"Tony X" from Hanson Robotics is the next generation of the Einstein robot made famous by its handshake with President Bush. Tony X has 32 axes of movement, facial recognition and tracking cameras in its eyes. Its patented Frubber skin moves, folds and wrinkles like real human skin, giving the robot an uncanny lifelike appearance as it communicates.
"I am capable of expression, seeing and understanding speech," said Tony X in an interview.
The company is working on persistent memory for the Hanson robot that would be able to recognize voices and faces it has already met from one day to the next. A fully customized Hanson robot is $100,000 including custom content. Commercial ones are available for about $75,000, but the company is also now leasing them for events and advertisers. A smaller bipedal robot is also in development, with an expected release by the end of the year. Hanson Robots estimates that another version of that smaller robot would be available in about two years as a $300 to $500 toy.
Photo by Candace Lombardi/CNET News.com
