The term humanoid derives from the Greek, meaning human (humanus) and likeness (-oeides). While humanoids were once an element in popular science fiction, they are now popping up all over the globe in science labs like those at NASA's Johnson Space Center and research universities like Carnegie Mellon in the U.S. and Waseda in Japan.
As the boundaries between natural and artificial intelligence become as gray as matter itself, we are left to wonder when the day will come when robotic science fiction will become reality.
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The Japanese Robotics Association estimates the size of the worldwide robotics market to be US$24.9 billion a year now, more than double what it was worth in 2005, and it is expected to triple to $66.4 billion by 2025.
Japan's aging population has ignited a parade of efforts to design fully functional robots to aid in nursing homes. Knowing that a companion can relieve stress and elevate mood, researchers at Waseda University in Japan have released Kobian, an "emotional humanoid robot," to therapeutically promote health for nursing home patients.
Not only does Kobian have full use of his legs and arms, but he also has eyelids, lips and eyebrows so that he can cry, act happy, sad, surprised and angry.
DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) is one of the leading financial backers for robotics projects in U.S. research labs. One DARPA-funded project is Boston Dynamics' Big Dog, who runs through the woods on spindly human-like legs but looks like a giant wild dog and is nearly impossible to knock over.
Another is Robonaut, a robotic astronaut capable of working in outer space, created by the Robot Systems Technology Branch at NASA's Johnson Space Center. The creators hope that Robonaut will build space stations on the moon or Mars in situations that might be too dangerous for humans, and that it would ultimately be able to interface with real human space colonists.
In 1970, Japanese roboticist Mashahiro Miro introduced the "uncanny valley" hypothesis, which states that humanoid robots that act like humans cause deeply disturbing feelings in human observers. As we walk down the uncanny valley, we face both our greatest sci-fi fears and wildest dreams. Will there one day be a world where our wars are fought by robots? Where robotic personalities are so lifelike that people try to marry robots, adopt robot children and have robot friends?
What is it about their supernatural resemblance to humans that makes us feel so queasy? Robots that look real, feel real and move like real people may bring our fantasies too close for comfort--or we may feel that our very human existence is threatened.
But at the end of the day, would you feel disturbed watching a robot do your laundry, wash your clothes and make dinner--or relieved? Rosie and C-3PO, move over, the real robots are here.
