Archive for July 30th, 2008

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]