October 28, 2010

Actroid-F is the Robot Nurse of Nightmares

by iona

Just when I thought things couldn’t get scarier than Japan’s Divabot, Kokoro (also Japanese) release Actroid-F is “the first true android” and a nurse at that! Actroid-F was previewed at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology. Designed for use in locations where human interactions take place, ‘she’ can move her eyes, open and close her mouth, tilt her head, nod, smile, simulate breathing and bow – how very Japanese. When seated Actroid-F is 1.4 meters tall. Kokoro claim that Actroid-F, with her ability to imitate human behaviour, is supposed to give patients “a heightened sense of security”. I know that if I woke up to find this nurse-bot at my bedside, I’d most likely have a heart attack.

Definitely more like the angel of death than Florence Nightingale. Actroid-F scores a big fat “batsu” (X) from me.