Spring Break Plans!

I plan on going to karaoke with my friends if the time works out in New York and hang and do whatever stuff we can there. If that plan doesn't work out then, we can always go to tennis and get as much practice we can get in. But most of all, I'm going to sleep for hours and watch drama all day long :)

Voki

Tech Article 3/11

The Most Realistic Robot Yet!

The latest Geminoid robot created by a group of Japanese scientists is based off of a non-Japanese person. In this case, they created a robot who also had a goatee. This robot came from the same studio as the one of the Geminoid F robot who took the role as an actress.

This newest robot has the most human-like features. Its equipped with a motion-capture system that allows the robot to copy the expression or movement of the captured person.

Tech Article 3/3

Toyota's Humanoid Robots Perform in Tokyo

The new robots in Japan, made my Toyota, now can play music. It can play the violin and trumpet. Although this event seemed magnificent and really amazing, many people are still wondering if it really is the robot's ability to play or if it's just another tape recorder dressed as a humanoid robot.

Performance by the two humanoid robots playing the trumpet and violin accompanied by a human violinist.

However, many people criticized that these new robots are no better than any tape recorder. It can just play back what they hear instead of playing what the robots think "sounds right". The article doesn't go into full detail as to how these robots are playing the instruments, which brings up questions if the robots really are playing what they thought and imagined, instead of something that was recorded and they're just replaying it.

A performance that one of person suggested was if these robots can improvise. One of the musician's talents that many people look for is how well they can improvise songs. If a robot can achieve improvisation, it'd be a really advanced robot that people would be looking for.