Scientists at the University of Sheffield wanted to attach electrodes to peoples tongues, but it seems no one wanted to do it for some reason, so they built a robot mouth with a tongue named “Anton,”. The animatronic tongue is made of soft silicone to help them understand speech and improve speech-recognition software. Researchers want to understand how the mouth produces sound and then create algorythms that can recognize speech patterns rather than try to match recordings to recordings.

I don’t know about all that, but if Anton can master the tongue, the ladies will love him.

[New Scientist]

On the fence about whether or not you want to buy a WowWee Femisapien? Over at robotsrule they have a multi-page review that will help. It explores the bot’s interface, modes and behaviors, etc. The conclusion is that it’s a “blockbuster hit” that’s “destined to take over the world.”

[robotsrule]