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July 22, 2009 3:35 PM PDT

Here comes the cybernetic bride

by Tim Hornyak
  • 3 comments

Welcome to Far-flung Tech, an exploration of far-out and faraway technology!

Japan's HRP-4C "cybernetic human" is designed for entertainment.

Japan's HRP-4C "cybernetic human" is designed for entertainment.

(Credit: AIST)

All eyes were on the stunning solar eclipse this week, but the Japanese were mesmerized by a new star on the catwalk.

Fashion designer Yumi Katsura showed her latest wedding dresses in Osaka including a gown sported by the government's newly developed "cybernetic human," the HRP-4C, which Crave first told you about in March.

4C slowly shimmied down the 10-meter catwalk to the beat of Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean." She turned to look at attendees and said, "I've put on a wedding dress for the first time. I'm very happy today to wear this dress by Yumi Katsura."

At a photo op later on, the blushing bride stood next to Katsura and blinked at photographers snapping her picture. Check it out in the video below.

Organizers were billing the event as the first of its kind in the world, and I can't recall another example of a humanoid robot showing off wedding apparel in a fashion show.

It also demonstrated how the Japanese continue to nurture a playful spirit in their approach to robotics. While other countries are building Terminator-style killing machines, Japan's National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) created 4C to work in the "entertainment industry." Perhaps a dubious use of funds by a deeply indebted state, the project was announced with the admission that "(1) robots walking on two feet only have little commercial value, (2) the unit price is very high, and (3) if it falls, it may be seriously damaged."

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Originally posted at Far-flung Tech
Crave freelancer Tim Hornyak is the author of "Loving the Machine: The Art and Science of Japanese Robots." He has been writing about Japanese culture and technology for a decade. E-mail Tim.
March 18, 2009 4:07 PM PDT

Japan's latest supermodel--a robot

by Leslie Katz
  • 27 comments
HRP-4C

The new Japanese humanoid robot HRP-4C displays a range of emotions (good luck discerning what they are) during a press conference in suburban Tokyo this week. Naturally, plenty of paparazzi were on hand.

(Credit: AFP Photo/Yoshikazu Tsuno)

She doesn't have the grace of a Cindy Crawford or Elle MacPherson (yet), but a few struts on the catwalk may help HRP-4C loosen up and hit her stride. The walking, talking girlbot will be getting practice soon, as she's set to make her catwalk debut at a Tokyo fashion show next week.

Scientists from Japan's National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology reportedly designed the 5-foot (ish), dark-haired creation to look like an average Japanese woman between the ages of 19 and 29. Unlike the average Japanese woman, however, HRP-4C has 30 motors in her body that allow her to walk and move its arms (somewhat loudly and awkwardly, if the video below is any indication) and 8 facial motors for blinking, smiling, and expressing emotions akin to anger and surprise.

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