Geminoid F Automated Receptionist

Japanese robot makers Kokoro and the Intelligent Robotics Laboratory have developed a new remotely operated female robot that can duplicate the facial expressions and speech of her human operator.

Geminoid F Female Robot

The Geminoid F, is modeled after a real woman – seen in the pic – and has life-like silicone skin, realistic black hair and a nice set of pearly whites. The ‘bot uses a tele-operating system and a smart camera to track the remote user’s facial expressions and reproduce them on the androids face.

The Gemini F is not the first ‘bot from the robot makers. The companies first ‘Actdroids’ were developed in 2005. Then in 2006‘Geminoid’, a male robot based on Osaka University roboticist Hiroshi Ishiguro, was unveiled.

Hiroshi Ishiguro And Geminoid Bot

Shortly afterward, the company offered to develop another two Geminoid clones for the public for the price of $250,000. Now there is full range of telepresence robots available for rent or purchase on the Kokoro company website.

The new female Geminoid F is not quite as complete package as her male predecessor. Employing just 12 pneumatic actuators rather than her male counterpart’s 46 means her range of motion is more limited, however when it comes to interacting, she’s quite skilled.

The reduction of internal mechanics also lowers the cost of the Geminoid F, which goes on sale next month for around half the cost of the male Geminoid bot.

Designed specifically to listen, and respond with speech, facial expressions and other unspoken gestures, the companies hope the Geminoid F ‘bot hopes to one day take over the role of a typical receptionist.

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