The Robot Professor

kaizokunami writes "From Wired News, we learn that a Japanese professor has created an android of himself that he uses to 'robot in' to classes. According to the article, 'It blinks and fidgets in its seat, moving its foot up and down restlessly, its shoulders rising gently as though it were breathing. These micromovements are so convincing that it's hard to believe this is a machine -- it seems more like a man wearing a rubber mask.'" More from the article: "'I want to check whether students, as well as my family, can feel my presence through Geminoid,' says Ishiguro, who seems perfectly at ease with his new twin. Geminoid already has a palpable gravitas that comes across when chatting to Ishiguro through the android, and one hesitates to even poke the machine's rubbery hands and cheeks."

automated grad student

[dan14807]

Grad students are now obsolete.

Let me be the first to say...

[BigWhiteGuy_27]

Domo arigato, Professor Roboto!

Palpable gravitas....

[MarkByers]

I have been looking for an android with a palpable gravitas for a long time. I hope it is fully functional.

Time for

[zymano]

Robot Supermodels.

Re:I can see it now...

[Anonymous Coward]

This is Japan we're talking about...

STNG

[PetriBORG]

But is this robot professor... fully functional? Alternitively, in other news half of slashdot realizes that they can make their very own girl robot...

Ow! My eyes! The goggles, they do nothing!

Evil Twin?

[Anonymous Coward]

who seems perfectly at ease with his new twin

Sure, he may be at ease with his 'twin' now, but little does he realize that it's actually all part of its nefarious plan for world domination. Soon he will be disposed of, and his identity taken over...

How do we get to be teacher's pet?

[Anonymous Coward]

Do we give the professor a disk with a jpeg of an apple on it?

This is really great, but...

[Rude Turnip]

...the shit's going to hit the fan when the guy dies and the robot decides to seek revenge on the guys that made fun of him in college, leaving the dimwitted clones of one of the revengee's children to seek out help from their grandfather's crack team of adventurers.

Don't trust this guy

[Da_Biz]

I want to check whether students, as well as my family, can feel my presence through Geminoid.

Sounds like this guy is using The Force to suit his evil purposes.

Re:Now professors

[kfg]

In future degrees will be awarded on the basis of library fines.

KFG

I'd be careful

[teamhasnoi]

That android looks pissed in *every* photo. You know, if it started a rampage, the only way to disable it is to crush it in a hydraulic press, or melt it down. I'd guess they haven't prepared a bubbling pool of molten slag - just in case.

And those grad students need to take better care of themselves - look at the acne on the guy in the last picture! He's giving even the most ardent mom's basement-dwelling /.ers a run for their money!

The State of the Art meets the Art of the State

[NetSettler]

Let me guess--the only clues that it's a robot are that it has a permanently painted on smirk, its eyes don't seem quite focused, there's a square access panel on its back (the door to which makes a visible outline even over a suit jacket in debates), it gets tired late at night when its battery runs down, it is overly touchy-feely with German diplomats and bald people, ... and, of course, it requires a human to operate it from an "undisclosed location".

Re:Just not a fan of such humanoid robots

[AcidLacedPenguiN]

blasphemy! I've always wanted a female invisible naked assassin robot to be a reality!

Re:automated grad student

[DJCacophony]

"You are a threat to you graduating. Prepare to be destroyed."

Re:Couldn't be worse than some that I've had...

[Bloke down the pub]

Sitting in a lecture is the antithesis of learning! College is a highly inefficient way to learn as a result of this.

A lecture is a method of transferring words from the teacher's paper to the student's, without passing through the brain of either.

One of my lecturers told me that at one of the few lectures I attended. All the time I thought i was lazy, I was just being efficient.

Re:automated grad student

[plover]

With my luck, next class I take I'll end up with a robotic grad student standing in for my robot professor.

And it'll probably have a damn thick accent, too. *breep*-*breep*

Re:Couldn't be worse than some that I've had...

[plover]

Um, they have teachers like this. It's called a "book on tape", or equiv. Skip the Disney rubber face BS.

Or if it makes you more comfortable, play the book on tape through a Teddy Ruxpin. Same difference.