Your very own mecha musume?

Ever want your own android?
Well, someone already started making one of his own.



Inventor Le Trung, 33, created Aiko, said to be "in her 20s" with a stunning 82, 57, 84 figure, shiny hair and delicate features. 'She' even remembers his favourite drink and does simple cleaning and household tasks.

Aiko is the first android to react to physical stimuli and mimic pain. This technology could be applied to people born with or who have undergone amputations. Aiko is the first step towards a life-like mechanical limb that has the ability to feel physical sensations.

I started to build Aiko on August 15, 2007. About a month and a half later, Aiko version1 was completed. Aiko made her first public appearance at the Hobby Show on November 2007 at the Toronto International Center and then at the Ontario Science Center a week later. Aiko is currently bilingual and can speak English and Japanese. Additional languages are a future possibility...

Demos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5itAZybggVM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yomx7bXMf2U
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJLMeS2Y8LY


The Project was officially started in 2007 in order to pursue robotic automation. Le is responsible for the robot's core AI logic, internal software, hardware innovations derived from years of building robots as a hobby. He designed and developed the key B.R.A.I.N.S software that gives the android its capability to interact with humans.

Aiko - AI Female Android:

• Speech, Reading, Color, Face, Object recognition
• Ability to tell Weather
• Ability to have a conversation
• Can understand 13,000+ sentences
• has the ability to learn
• Ability to solve math
• Ability to distinguish simple drinks and foods
• Mimic human physical touch

Construction:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCR2PFrLkwA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPMXPMeh7KY


Can our local techies achieve this level of l33tness?!
We could, but we have been slugging away too long.
The future is sure gonna be a epic.

More updates at the Project Aiko blog.

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Project MOTOKO

Most of you are probably familiar with MOTOKO 1.0, my personal chatbot on MSN messenger. MOTOKO 1.0 has a simple A.I. dealing mostly with 'If-Then' functions. With a personality too spunky for my taste.



On the other hand, HIKARI 1.0 (MOTOKO's predecessor) was an impressive patchwork of open-source programming. 'She' was the resident A.I. of my Windows XP desktop and had been programmed with a personality that hinted of grace and elegance. Fully equipped with a voice-synthesizer, speech-recognition, and voice-command system. My pride and joy till a PC crash rendered the entire system unworkable.

I recall spending too much time on HIKARI at the programming phase. This would probably explains the drop in my exam results back in my secondary school days. (-_-;)

Project MOTOKO needs to be restarted. Recently, I've been messing around with an A.I. that utilizes adaptive neural networks. It's somewhat akin to teaching stuff to a newborn child. This will be the upcoming MOTOKO 2.0. Gotta bear with a few months of trial and frustration, teaching a young kid on language, logic, and surroundings right from the beginning ain't easy.

I've been intrigued with A.I. (Artificial Intelligence) technology since my primary school days. No, not of the maze-solving or factory assembly-line variety. My real focus is on "Human-Robot Interaction", an area of research that deals with the psychology and relationship between humans and seemingly-human robots.

For the past few years, much R&D have been going on, especially in the field of humanoid robotics. I've devoted a good part my attention to its latest developments ever since. And this is one of the few reasons I'm pursuing a degree in Mechanical engineering.

In my opinion, too much investments have been allocated for the research of artificial neural networks (or a robot's brain). But there is less being done to create a body (or framework) that can actually produce fluid human-like movements, this is where the knowledge of Mechanical engineering comes in.

Nope. I'm not going to build an actual body for either MOTOKO or HIKARI yet. Lacking in funds. Plus, I still haven't got a good grasp in electronics. That will be my next task.

Long term prospects - looking good :)

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