Word: droids
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Meet the latest in Japanese robotica: a droid that cares ... for old people. A team of scientists at Riken's biomimetic-control research center in Nagoya has developed RI-MAN (for Robot Interacting with Human) to look after the elderly. Standing 5-ft. 2-in. tall, the robot can hoist 77 lbs; its 320 pressure sensors and soft silicone skin allow the robot to safely carry a human body. RI-MAN can also pinpoint where sound is coming from and "smell" eight scents--including urine, which signals "diaper change." But RI-MAN needs a brainpower boost before it's ready...
...standard cop-hero sociopath and also because he just can't stand robots, Spooner suspects everyone. Dammit, he suspects anything modern. As the U.S. Robots boss (Bruce Greenwood) says, "You would have banned the Internet simply to keep the libraries open." Spooner focuses his skepticism on a prototype droid named Sonny, the only creature in the room with the inventor when he died...
...standard cop-hero sociopath and also because he just can't stand robots, Spooner suspects everyone. Dammit, he suspects anything modern. As the U.S. Robots boss (Bruce Greenwood) says, "You would have banned the Internet simply to keep the libraries open." Spooner focuses his skepticism on a prototype droid named Sonny, the only creature in the room with the inventor when he died. Sonny, in the tradition of Jar Jar Binks and Gollum, was created by painting computer graphics over an actor (here, Alan Tudyk). It's a suave simulacrum that makes Sonny the film's most complex and human...
...Rival companies are racing to build more specialized machines. Matsushita, maker of the Panasonic brand, has developed a vacuum-cleaning droid with powerful dust sensors, while Sanyo is working to commercialize a remote-controlled guard dog equipped with a digital camera and mobile phone. Sony has taken a slightly different approach. While Honda researchers pursue the holy grail of the film Bicentennial Man?a mechanized butler?Sony's vision is closer to the sci-fi movie A.I., which features a boy-bot that offers unconditional robot lovin'. The company has sold more than 100,000 of its toylike AIBOs since...
ALLIANCE STARFIGHTERS The yellow Naboo N-1 starfighters square off against droid fighters in Episode I. Obi-Wan Kenobi flies a pared-down Jedi starfighter in II. In IV, the rebels rely on nimble X-wings...