Word: asimo
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...while Tokyo's major investment goal may be practical, robotics is also prestigious, giving Japan's big technology companies a global showcase for their cutting-edge research capabilities. Honda devoted millions of dollars towards the development of its first walking humanoid ASIMO "with no hope of direct commercial success," says Noel Sharkey, a robotics professor at the University of Sheffield. The exercise both "shows that they are technological leaders," Sharkey says, and gives Honda a chance to "reward the very best engineers in the company by placing them on the ASIMO team." (Read about robots in the U.S. army...
...took a robot to breathe life into a state dinner. In Prague, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi charmed guests with assistant envoy ASIMO, a Honda humanoid. Asimo paid tribute to Czech writer Karel Capek, who coined the term robot in his 1921 play R.U.R. The mechanical sidekick also danced and made a toast--in Czech--but revealed that he was too young to drink...
...Sadly, ASIMO is not for sale. Honda, which has built 20 ASIMOs, won't say how much it cost to develop, but the firm is putting them to tentative commercial use as a public relations gimmick. Honda is renting ASIMOs to four companies, including IBM Japan and a science museum in Tokyo, for reception duties at the circuit-scrambling price of $163,000 a year...
...Humanoid Robotics Project set out five years ago to deliver a robot versatile enough to perform hard labor in hazardous conditions. Some $40 million has been spent but the project's HRP-1 robot still suffers from poor visual recognition and has trouble walking on rough terrain. Likewise, ASIMO understands only the simplest of commands and isn't dexterous enough to wield a mop. Yet it costs more to lease than a Lamborghini. "We want to improve ASIMO to make it marketable as soon as possible. But it's not at a stage where we can draft a business strategy...
...there were less competition and more pooling of resources. Manufacturers, however, hate the idea of cooperation. After all, Honda's and Sony's corporate images are burnished by their keen machines?they demonstrate technological superiority over rivals. Even if it can't do the dishes, as a walking billboard ASIMO does just fine...