Taizo Robot Exercise Instructor For Japan's Seniors
Taizo, the robotic exercise instructor, is exactly what Japan's aging population needs to stay in shape. Based on the HRP-2m Choromet bot from General Robotics, it leads groups of seniors in performing preventative care and rehabilitation exercises. The robot's name is a play on the Japanese word for "calisthenics".
The exercise robot was devised to entice as many seniors as possible to take part in a regular exercise program. It can also use its voice and speech recognition engine to interact with other participants.
Take a look at this short video of the charming Taizo robot exercise instructor.
Taizo's joints have 26 degrees of freedom; I'm wondering how many degrees of freedom the joints of Japanese seniors have...
Thanks to Ashley, here's a pretty good manga and anime antecedent to the idea of an exercise robot. In the 2001 series Chobits, Sumomo is a "mobile persocom", essentially an animated laptop computer. She leads Hideki in wakeup exercises every morning and dances in standby mode.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!)
is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for
the Invention Category that interests
you, the Glossary, the Invention
Timeline, or see what's New.
A System To Defeat AI Face Recognition
'...points and patches of light... sliding all over their faces in a programmed manner that had been designed to foil facial recognition systems.'