Frubber (from "flesh rubber") is a patented [1] elastic form of rubber used in robotics. [2] The spongy elastomer [3] has been used by Hanson Robotics for the face of its android robots, including Einstein 3 [4] and Sophia. [5]
An android is a humanoid robot or other artificial being often made from a flesh-like material. Historically, androids existed only in the domain of science fiction and were frequently seen in film and television, but advances in robot technology have allowed the design of functional and realistic humanoid robots.
Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist who is widely held as one of the most influential scientists. Best known for developing the theory of relativity, Einstein also made important contributions to quantum mechanics. His mass–energy equivalence formula E = mc2, which arises from special relativity, has been called "the world's most famous equation". He received the 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics.
An autonomous robot is a robot that acts without recourse to human control. Historic examples include space probes. Modern examples include self-driving vacuums and cars.
A sex doll is an anthropomorphic sex toy in the size and shape of a sexual partner. The sex doll may consist of an entire body, or just a head, pelvis, or other body part intended for sexual stimulation. Sex dolls are made from various materials like silicone, TPE, or rubber to replicate a lifelike feel. These materials are chosen for their durability and realistic texture, enhancing the overall experience for users. The parts sometimes vibrate and may be moveable and interchangeable. Sex dolls exist in many forms, but are usually distinguished from sex robots, which are anthropomorphic creations designed to be able to engage in more complex interactions.
The uncanny valley effect is a hypothesized psychological and aesthetic relation between an object's degree of resemblance to a human being and the emotional response to the object. Examples of the phenomenon exist among robotics, 3D computer animations and lifelike dolls. The increasing prevalence of digital technologies has propagated discussions and citations of the "valley"; such conversation has enhanced the construct's verisimilitude. The uncanny valley hypothesis predicts that an entity appearing almost human will risk eliciting eerie feelings in viewers.
An animatronic is a mechatronic puppet controlled by a machine to move in a fluent way. They are a modern variant of the automaton and are often used for the portrayal of characters in films, video games and in theme park attractions.
HUBO is a walking humanoid robot, head mounted on a life-size walking bipedal frame, developed by the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) and released on January 6, 2005. According to Hubo's creator Prof Jun-Ho Oh and his Plenary Session at ICRA 2012 entitled Development Outline of the Humanoid Robot: HUBO II the name Hubo is simply a name, not an abbreviation.
David Hanson Jr. is an American roboticist who is the founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Hanson Robotics, a Hong Kong–based robotics company founded in 2013.
Ben Goertzel is a computer scientist, artificial intelligence researcher, and businessman. He helped popularize the term 'artificial general intelligence'.
Thomas P. Riccio is an American multimedia artist and academic. He received his BA from Cleveland State University in English Literature in 1978, his MFA from Boston University in 1982, and studied in the PhD program in Performance Studies at New York University from 1983 to 1984. Riccio has directed over one hundred plays at American regional theatres, off-off and off Broadway and has worked extensively in the area of indigenous and ritual performance conducting research and/or creating performances in: South Africa, Zambia, Burkina Faso, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Europe, Russia, Siberia, Korea, India, Nepal, China, and Alaska. In 1993 the People's Republic of Sakha declared him a “Cultural Hero”.
The FIRST Championship is a four-day robotics championship held annually in April at which FIRST student robotics teams compete. For several years, the event was held at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia, but moved to the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis, Missouri in 2011, where it remained through 2017. In 2017, the Championship was split into two events, being additionally held at the George R. Brown Convention Center and Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas. In 2018 and 2019, the Championship was held in Houston and Detroit, Michigan at the TCF Center and Ford Field. The event comprises four competitions; the FIRST Robotics Competition Championship, the FIRST Tech Challenge World Championship, the FIRST Lego League World Festival, and the FIRST Lego League Junior World Expo.
Manuela Maria Veloso is the Head of J.P. Morgan AI Research & Herbert A. Simon University Professor Emeritus in the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University, where she was previously Head of the Machine Learning Department. She served as president of Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI) until 2014, and the co-founder and a Past President of the RoboCup Federation. She is a fellow of AAAI, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), and Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). She is an international expert in artificial intelligence and robotics.
Robotics is the interdisciplinary study and practice of the design, construction, operation, and use of robots.
BINA48 is a robotic face combined with chatbot functionalities, enabling simple conversation facilities. BINA48 is owned by Martine Rothblatt's Terasem Movement. It was developed by Hanson Robotics and released in 2010. Its physical appearance is modeled after Bina Aspen, Rothblatt's wife.
Arin Joseph Hanson, also known by the pseudonym Egoraptor, is an American YouTuber, actor, rapper, and animator. He is well known for his Flash cartoons, as well as being the co-founder and co-star of the popular YouTube Let's Play series Game Grumps.
Ross Kenry O'Donovan, also known as RubberNinja and RubberRoss, is an Australian animator, voice actor, and Internet personality. He is known for his solo work as a Twitch streamer, as well as his YouTube and Newgrounds cartoons and animations. He co-hosted the internet show Steam Train, a spin-off of YouTube Let's Play series Game Grumps.
FIRST Steamworks, stylized as FIRST STEAMworks, was the FIRST Robotics Competition game for the 2017 season. As in past games, two alliances of three individual teams and their robots compete on a field to score "match" point to win the game and ranking points to advance to playoff rounds. The game has a steampunk theme and teams are required to shoot wiffle balls which represent fuel into a simulated boiler which transfers the generated steam into an airship in the middle of the field. Each alliance has one airship, which they pressurize with steam from the boiler and load with plastic gears from the field. At the end of the match, robots can climb and hang on team-supplied ropes attached to the airship for additional points.
Sophia is a female social humanoid robot developed in 2016 by the Hong Kong–based company Hanson Robotics. Sophia was activated on February 14, 2016, and made her first public appearance in mid-March 2016 at South by Southwest (SXSW) in Austin, Texas, United States. Sophia was marketed as a "social robot" who can mimic social behavior and induce feelings of love in humans.
Hanson Robotics Limited is a Hong Kong–based engineering and robotics company founded by David Hanson, known for its development of human-like robots with artificial intelligence (AI) for consumer, entertainment, service, healthcare, and research applications. The robots include Albert HUBO, the first walking robot with human-like expressions; BINA48, an interactive humanoid robot bust; and Sophia, the world's first robot citizen. The company has 45 employees.
Han is a social humanoid robot created by the Hong Kong–based company Hanson Robotics. He was first activated in 2015 and debuted the same year at the Global Sources Electronics Fair. His skin is made of Frubber. He can detect people and their gender, age, and emotional expression. He mainly consists of a head that can be mounted on a transparent body allowing people to see his circuitry. According to AI magazine, its main purpose is to help humans find contentment.