The Japanese have the gift of creating imaginative robotics but in most cases their inventions don’t make it in to the mainstream. A Japanese start-up named Different Dimension is looking to change that with by creating a product with a twist. The firm has developed an Augmented Reality robot doll that a user can give the appearance of a virtual character. What that means is that the green doll has a computer generated image projected onto it like a skin. A head-mounted display (HMD) is utilized to view the doll with its character skin in real time. The entire project is the result of a research project from the Yokohama National University and the Japan Science and Technology Agency. The whole study took place in 2006 and was led by Michihiko Shoji. The study developed the technology which will now be marketed to consumers as a “virtual humanoid”.
The devices is an example of “mixed reality” or a device that gives augmented reality a physical parallel int he real world. In the case of the Different Dimension, a user can see the virtual character through the HMD which also has a camera that takes images and then combines them with the digital character to allow it and move along with the physical robot. A user can then interact with the physical robot and in turn with the virtual character.
When the 2006 study concluded it had developed a prototype called U-Tsu-Shi-O-Mi. However, at the time the team faced several problems including cost. The life size robot was too expensive and if a virtual character was skinny, the green covering of the robot could bee seen around the edges. Another problem was that the researchers were only able to play back recordings so a user was never really conversing with the virtual character in a natural way.
Those problems have been resolved in order to commercialize the product. The robot is 13.7 inches tall thanks to a 60 percent reduction in size and has the bottom half of the body removed. The robot has also been made thinner to fit slim characters and the material on the robot has been changed so that it feel realistic when touched. The new product also has a lot more motion and it can move the neck, arms, shoulders, elbows and wrists. Servo motors attached to the joints have position sensors that record data and send it to the software which then makes the virtual character move accordingly. The MMDAgent software creates a 3D computer character that can then interact with the user.
Consumers can place pre-orders in March for ¥450,000 to ¥500,000 (US$4,800 to $5,300).
Source: Gizmag, TechCrunch
Image: Gizmag
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