We’re Goin’ Dancin’ With An iPod Robot
05.31.07 - 01:48pm
Dancing the night away! The perfect dance partner; an iPod robot that twirls, gyrates and keeps the moves going all night long.
The new Miuro weighs in at 11-pounds and will dance to the music of the iPod - generating it’s own moves, not preprogrammed ones, based on a complex system of mathematics that allow it to move to the music spontaneously.
The scientists who developed the Miuro say that someday their technology will allow all robots to move in spontaneous motion. (the days of IRobot are almost here folks)
“We aim to create a new form of life that moves freely and spontaneously in ways human beings can’t predict,” Taniguchi said. “We’re hoping to turn Miuro into the ultimate virtual pet,” he said. (Can you get the same love from a robot pet? although you do miss the toilet training!)
The software in the new Miuro’s is based on chaotic intinerancy, which is a mathematical pattern similar to the movements of a bee circling from flower to flower as it collects nectar. This allows the robot to act “just like a child playing,” said Tokyo University researcher Takashi Ikegami, who developed the software.
Now one super cool feature that just cracks me up is that the Miuro will wheel into the bedroom in the cold dark hours of the morning and blast out Rob Zombie, or whatever other music will have you jumping out of your nice warm bed to go stomp on Mr. Robot a couple times thus getting you up in time to go to work.
Soon to come versions of the Miuro will also have inbuilt sensors to proactively seek out people to play tunes to - one way to break the ice and get a conversation going.
When the new one will be released we don’t know yet but the original Miuro can be bought in Japan for about $895. The original can receive wireless signals from a personal computer to play iTunes and other stored digital files. Buyers can also add a camera that beams images to PCs or lets owners control their Miuros by mobile phones.
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