In addition to highlighting Simroid’s ability to interact with dentists and react to mouth pain, the show features an interview with Dr. Naotake Shibui of the Nippon Dental University in Tokyo, who helped develop the robot with engineers from Kokoro Co., Ltd. According to the interview, Simroid is modeled after a 28-year-old woman, and her fear of dentists and sensitivity to pain have earned her the nickname “Pain Girl” (Ita-gaaru). Asked why Simroid is female, Shibui explains that female patients must be treated with more sensitivity than male patients. With sensors embedded in her chest, Simroid can teach dentists-in-training to pay close attention to where they place their elbows.
Simroid’s primary purpose is to help dental students improve their patient communication skills.
Simroid, a robotic dental patient with an eerily realistic appearance, has been spotted at the 2007 International Robot Exhibition in Tokyo. Designed primarily as a training tool for dentists, the fembot patient can follow spoken instructions, closely monitor a dentist’s performance during mock treatments, and react in a human-like way to mouth pain. Because Simroid’s realistic appearance and behavior motivate people to treat her like a human being, as opposed to an object, she helps dental trainees learn how to better communicate with patients.
Simroid’s body and control system was developed by Kokoro Company Ltd., creators of the Actroid receptionist robot. Like her Actroid sister, Simroid is equipped with a system of air-powered muscles and soft silicone skin. However, she has something the Actroid does not — sensitive teeth. Thanks to a mouth loaded with sensors, she knows when her dentist-in-training makes a mistake. And to express her pain, she grimaces, moves her hands and eyes, and says, “That hurts.”
Kokoro says that for an extra touch of realism, Simroid exhibits a gag reflex when instruments are inserted too far into her mouth.
Kokoro, a Sanrio Group company specializing in the design and manufacture of robots, unveiled its new Actroid DER2 feminine guide robot at Sanrio headquarters in Tokyo on October 4.
Actroid DER2 is an upgraded version of Kokoro’s previous fembot, Actroid DER, who has made quite a name for herself by providing services at a number of events, including the 2005 World Expo. Compared to the previous model, DER2 has thinner arms and a wider repertoire of expressions. The smoothness of her movement has also been improved, making it now even more likely for the uninitiated to confuse her with an actual human being.
Actroid’s limbs, torso and facial expressions are controlled by a system of actuators powered by pneumatic pressure. Once programmed, she is able to choreograph her motions and gestures with her voice.
Kokoro intends to rent Actroid DER2 to companies and events. The basic rental fee is expected to be 400,000 yen (US$3,500) for 5 days, plus extra fees for technical support, delivery and choreography changes. For those who can’t cope with a sayonara after 5 days, there is a late fee of 80,000 yen per day.
UPDATE - Oct 7, 2006: Blind dates with strange robots are not recommended, so check out the great Actroid DER2 photos and videos recently posted at Robot Watch before deciding whether you really want to pursue a relationship. Or enjoy the video on YouTube.
Geminoid is a remote-control doppelganger droid designed by and modeled after Hiroshi Ishiguro, professor at Osaka University and researcher at ATR Intelligent Robotics and Communication Laboratories. Robot Watch has released some short videos, which you can see at the links below. Video format is WMV.
Video 1: Ishiguro introduces himself through Geminoid.
Video 2: This segment shows Geminoid’s facial movements. The telepresent Ishiguro explains, “When someone touches Geminoid, it seems as if I am the one being touched.”
Video 3: Geminoid (Ishiguro) doesn’t like it when you touch his face.
Video 4: Geminoid is programmed so that his head continues to move, even when not being specifically controlled.
Video 5: Sitting next to Geminoid, Ishiguro discusses his research concerning “presence.”
In Latin, gemin means “twin” or “double,” while –oid is a suffix indicating a “likeness to something else.” Hiroshi Ishiguro would say that his Geminoid is like a twin. The body is a copy of Ishiguro’s, and the shape of Geminoid’s skull was created based on MRI scans of Ishiguro’s head. And Geminoid shares some of his mannerisms.
Geminoid’s body, which was produced by Kokoro, makers of the Actroid line of fembots, has 46 degrees of freedom and is driven by a system of air compressors. The skin consists of soft, silicone rubber. Confined to a chair at the moment, the android is unable to stand up and move about on his own. Communication and power cables exit his rear end and snake through the shaft of the chair out of sight. It took 6 months of work to develop the body and about 2 to 3 months to develop the software.
One of the purposes for creating Geminoid is to explore the concept of tele-existence — to figure out what is needed in order to copy an actual human’s “presence” so that he or she may exist in two places at once. “I wonder how possible it is to separate one’s inner self and outer self, to create distance between one’s body and soul,” Ishiguro says.
