Meet the Geminoid DK.

March 7, 2011 10:00 AM

Meet the Geminoid DK, who looks exactly like Associate Professor Henrik Scharfe of Aalborg University in Denmark. If you're wondering why on Earth someone would want an exact robotic double of themselves, besides being TOTALLY AND COMPLETELY AWESOME, the Geminoid is going to be used for researching "emotional affordances" in human-robot interaction, the novel notion of "blended presence," as well as cultural differences (from different continents) in the perception of robots.
posted by amro (32 comments total)

Okay, so we've actually crossed the Uncanny Valley, have we?
posted by etc. at 10:12 AM on March 7, 2011

If you're wondering why on Earth someone would want an exact robotic double of themselves, besides being TOTALLY AND COMPLETELY AWESOME,

No, no; I am good with that.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 10:13 AM on March 7, 2011 [1 favorite]

It sure can blink!
posted by smackfu at 10:15 AM on March 7, 2011 [1 favorite]

Nightmare fuel.
posted by emelenjr at 10:16 AM on March 7, 2011

ORDER TODAY
posted by The Whelk at 10:17 AM on March 7, 2011

I love that, except the soundtrack really should have been Herbie Hancock.
posted by MegoSteve at 10:18 AM on March 7, 2011 [1 favorite]

I find the video of him "breathing" (last video in this link; should have put it in the post) particularly creepy.
posted by amro at 10:19 AM on March 7, 2011

Meet the Geminoid DK, who looks exactlynothing like Associate Professor Henrik Scharfe of Aalborg University in Denmark.
posted by DU at 10:29 AM on March 7, 2011

This is totally awesome and pretty convince at the youtube level. Still, it's basically a high-end puppet and is currently completely dependent on a human operator. This is a triumph of craftsmanship and mechanical engineering compared to something like the DARPA Grand Challenge. It's an exciting, terrifying future to imagine the two merge in 20 years.
posted by 2bucksplus at 10:30 AM on March 7, 2011

I'd like to propose a new Law of Robotics: A robot must be visibly and immediately distinguishable from a human.
posted by Faint of Butt at 10:33 AM on March 7, 2011 [2 favorites]

The robot actually did look pretty realistically human, just nothing like the Professor. (I'm imagining him at the lab a year ago saying "can you take off 20 lbs? and no way is my hair that gray..fix that for sure".)

In all the static positions it looks pretty good. But the movements are freakily fast and abrupt.
posted by DU at 10:33 AM on March 7, 2011

Describe in single words only the good things that come into your mind about our mother.
posted by Babblesort at 10:33 AM on March 7, 2011 [1 favorite]

I never thought Geminon's cylon production was particularly noteworthy.
posted by leotrotsky at 10:34 AM on March 7, 2011

The light that burns twice as bright burns half as long.
posted by mosk at 10:34 AM on March 7, 2011

I'd like to propose a new Law of Robotics: A robot must be visibly and immediately distinguishable from a human.

This is already in a ton of SF. Almost always as a dystopian, unfair law that makes the reader more sympathetic of the robots.
posted by DU at 10:35 AM on March 7, 2011

I keep thinking of that scene in The Time Traveler's Wife when teenage Henry meets teenage Henry...
posted by Terminal Verbosity at 10:36 AM on March 7, 2011

Or in Red Dwarf where they encounter the pleasuremorph (or whatever it was) that reflects your strongest desire back at you. Cat saw Cat, of course.
posted by maxwelton at 10:47 AM on March 7, 2011

Every machine design professor I ever knew was just plain weird.

otoh, I agree with Faint of Butt - Asimov (may he rest in peace) had no idea bout the robot infested times we live in - I add another rule: Robots cannot be invisible.
posted by infini at 11:09 AM on March 7, 2011

When he it launched into that broad smile, a little piece of me died.
posted by AugieAugustus at 11:23 AM on March 7, 2011

Now I know what it would be like if people in the real world moved the way NPCs in video games do.
posted by invitapriore at 11:30 AM on March 7, 2011

Also:

a)Robots should not follow people around shouting advertising.
b)Robots should not follow you into the bathroom to watch you poop, and then laugh.
c)Robots are not allowed to pretend their motor oil is a delicious milkshake
d)Robots must not attempt to kill all helper-monkeys on sight. (Possessed sockmonkey dolls are OK to attack.)
e)Robots are not allowed to ask when you're going to die more than twice in a conversation.
f)Robots are not allowed to stare at you while you sleep.
posted by Slap*Happy at 11:42 AM on March 7, 2011 [5 favorites]

It won't be over the uncanny valley until we want to have sex with it.

Although, by that metric, my vacuum cleaner is over the uncanny valley.
posted by Astro Zombie at 11:46 AM on March 7, 2011 [2 favorites]

You mean battery powered appliances are humanoid robots?
posted by infini at 11:54 AM on March 7, 2011

The reason to make a robot duplicate of yourself is that it will be the plot of the most ridiculously insanely rad Bollywood action movie ever.
posted by straight at 12:39 PM on March 7, 2011 [1 favorite]

Ah, the Masala Danish
posted by infini at 1:16 PM on March 7, 2011

Hmm.

Hmmmmmmmm.



AAAAAAAAAAH AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH
posted by FatherDagon at 1:17 PM on March 7, 2011 [1 favorite]

YUCK!!
posted by Mister_A at 1:52 PM on March 7, 2011

I could not watch that video. Some deeply buried part of my brain just could not handle it.
posted by MadamM at 2:45 PM on March 7, 2011

The blinking is good. The smiling is still in the uncanny valley.
posted by delmoi at 7:36 PM on March 7, 2011

And for Humans pushing themselves into the uncanny valley nothing beats Face Yoga
posted by delmoi at 7:37 PM on March 7, 2011

It won't be over the uncanny valley until we want to have sex with it.

Too late.
posted by MikeKD at 1:59 AM on March 8, 2011

This is just viscerally terrifying.
posted by LobsterMitten at 3:12 PM on March 8, 2011