Erica, the Most Autonomous Humanoid Robot on Earth

Megalith

Megalith

24-bit/48kHz
Staff member
Joined
Aug 20, 2006
Messages
13,000
The Guardian has a short documentary on Erica, a semi-autonomous android who looks super realistic and capable of conversation thanks to an advanced speech synthesis system. While she can’t move her arms or legs yet, I am sure her creators are working feverishly to fix that, as we all know what their endgame is. Are you ready for the real-life sequel to Ex Machina?

Erica is 23. She has a beautiful, neutral face and speaks in synthesized voice. She has 20 degrees of freedom but can't move her hands yet. Hiroshi Ishiguro is her father and the bad boy of Japanese robotics. Together they will redefine what it means to be human and reveal that the future is closer than we might think.
 
I really wish people with such incredible talents like this guy Ishiguro, "her father," wouldn't squander them on such stuff but that's how things go I suppose. For me personally, she doesn't look super realistic and as someone that's been involved with research into computer speech synthesis for decades now I know that rather pale attempt done by that android/robot/whatever is passable for many people the instant "she" speaks I know it's artificial and that just makes it that much worse to listen to. :p

"redefine what it means to be human..." <- I really don't have a single fucking clue what this kind of statement means and it gets tossed around a lot these days. I don't see how anything technological will ever offer up such a capability, one would think that would only come from other humans, who knows.

Also: beauty in the eye of the beholder as well, I realize there's a shitload of individuals who would pay handsomely for this kind of creation, aka "Real Doll Super-Duper-Mega-Hella It Talks Edition." :D
 
In terms of plastic/robotics, I guess it looks "realistic", but to be honest, it has a long way to go. No facial movement other than the blinking. The uncanny valley is strong with this android.
 
But does it have functional female anatomy. Then you can always bag the head of it looks bad.

Terrible, I know.
 
voice is still too mechanical. Siri and Cortana sound better and more natural.
anatomical muscle ligature is incorrect for movement.
movements still too jerky and way too exaggerated. I think they are trying to compensate for her lack of other features. You know the sign of a bad actor? They talk too much with their body. Some of the best actors act with a minimal of movement. Tone, inflection, speed, volume, eyes, subtle movement are what really sell it.
 
Da fuck am I looking at? It's not a robot, cause it doesn't actually do anything but turn its head and open and close its mouth. Is this just chatbot? Cause if it is, I'm disappointed. At this point, I better see something like that but can actually walk around and pick up objects. It's not even a convincing head. Johnny Cab from total recall looks better. Siri on iPhones sound better than this. Atlas from Boston dynamics can actually move. Merge these together and then come back.

 
Caleb: Did you design Erica's face based on my pornography profile?
Nathan: Oh. Shit, dude.
Caleb: Did you?
Nathan: Hey, if a search engine's good for anything, right?
ex-machina-nathan-caleb.jpg


P.S: It's a modified quote from "Ex Machima" I recommend a watch.
 
Last edited:
DigitalGriffin said:
You know the sign of a bad actor? They talk too much with their body. Some of the best actors act with a minimal of movement. Tone, inflection, speed, volume, eyes, subtle movement are what really sell it.
Click to expand...

That's an interesting observation. My favorite example of this done well is Hugo Weaving in V for Vendetta. You never see his face, but he imparts such feeling with his voice that you forget it's a mask after the first bit.
 
Abomination! Kill it with fire!

"Humans are no different from machines?" What kind of fucked up flawed logic is that? A machine is an inanimate object, incapable of forming thoughts or emotions without human intervention. The only reason why that thing is talking is because a human programed it to. Without us, it would just be a pile of parts.
 
Last edited:
Dr. Dylan mos def put his penis in it; Asian dude with cool hair observed.
 
Humanoid robots shouldn't look like humans.

Humans form attachments to their dogs, cats, and birds, so to have an emotional interaction with a robot doesn't require a human face. Even a sexbot doesn't have to look human, as long as it has a 70% hip to slim waist ratio and long legs, it doesn't really even have to have a face, or could be like Morty's Robocop sexbot.

Learn from Wall-E and anime and the like, and just give it LCD eyes that can change shape to convey happy, sad, confused, sleepy, angry, etc.

Spend all that energy that you otherwise would on a thousand facial muscle servos and moving mouth, and make it walk and pickup things better, and focus on intelligence.
 
Looks more like 13. But, hey, it's Japan.

Still fake looking and slightly creepy.
 
After watching this video, I'm a bit torn. On the one hand, it is way better than some of the old Disney animatronics. But the movements and speech are still clearly off... but... I dunno, it's not quite twinging that uncanny valley. It's better than Bioware's recent efforts soooo
 
Ducman69 said:
Humanoid robots shouldn't look like humans.

Humans form attachments to their dogs, cats, and birds, so to have an emotional interaction with a robot doesn't require a human face. Even a sexbot doesn't have to look human, as long as it has a 70% hip to slim waist ratio and long legs, it doesn't really even have to have a face, or could be like Morty's Robocop sexbot.

Learn from Wall-E and anime and the like, and just give it LCD eyes that can change shape to convey happy, sad, confused, sleepy, angry, etc.

Spend all that energy that you otherwise would on a thousand facial muscle servos and moving mouth, and make it walk and pickup things better, and focus on intelligence.
Click to expand...
I agree, I think something like the Cozmo robot has infinite more personality than this thing.

Also, the voice sounds like a dude from Monty Python playing a female character.
 
As others have said, I'm also not impressed. It seems to be a glorified Alexa/Siri .. you can tell it's clearly googling behind the scenes (the Chappie bit).
 
Is she hot?
That not important. She semi-autonomous.
In other words: no
 
Erica man made... by japanese men for japanese men. Is that what they meant?
 
thats why we shouldnt let people who doesnt watch anime do anything in this world, all i see is a missed opportunity
 
Hiroshi Ishiguro has been building robots like this for over a decade, how is this "news"?
 
Hmmm. Sexbot is not quite done yet. Put it back in the oven for another 5-10 years.
 
VooDooPC said:
I agree, I think something like the Cozmo robot has infinite more personality than this thing.

Also, the voice sounds like a dude from Monty Python playing a female character.
Click to expand...
You hit it on the head, she could be in the Batley townswomens guild's reenactment of Mass Effect: Andromeda.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top