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Hanson Robotics' automated Einstein Head gets a job as a teacher
Hanson Robotics, led by David Hanson, has been working on an animatronic version of Einstein's head in cooperation with UCSD for years — reminding us of the head-in-a-jar future we're all destined for in Futurama — and the latest iteration of the 'bot shown off at this year's TED Conference is the most expressive yet. The resurrected scientist features a layer of artificial skin called Frubber (complete with nanometer-sized pores) stretched over a frame powered by 31 motors to cycle it through expressions.
It's this ability to emote that has the researchers at UCSD interested in how Einstein's head would interact with a classroom full of high schoolers, which they plan to stick it in. Einstein also has the ability to pick out facial features and react to them, spotting anything from a pair a glasses, to how youthful someone looks.
Click Continue to see a video of ol' Einstein in action.
Mail Online, via Gizmo Watch
By budgethero at 5:07 PM ON 02/27/09
as a teacher or a holloween animatronic. an actually scary one.
By Anonymous at 5:13 PM ON 02/27/09
Looks like Phyllis Diller with a mustache.
By beowuff at 5:19 PM ON 02/27/09
I've seen pictures of a younger Einstein... Why don't they model it after him YOUNGER? I'm sure that's what he would have preferred... And it would be more pleasing to look at...
By Lobsang at 8:15 PM ON 02/27/09
Thats great - its straight of the teaching robots using in Philip K Dick's Martian Time Slip - and that was written in 1964!
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Lobsang:
Thats great - its straight of the teaching robots using in Philip K Dick's Martian Time Slip - and that was written...More »