Erica
History of Androids & Walking Robots
By Carter S
“Erica”
What Is Erica?
Erica is an android created in Japan by Hiroshi Ishiguro and took up her new role as a japanese news anchor back in April. Some people say that Erica looks and acts so alive and realistic that she could “have a soul”.
Erica’s Significance
Erica the Japanese news anchor is one of the few recently made robots that look, talk, walk, and think close to actual humans. Erica is not remote controlled and can answer your questions and respond to your comments. Erica has “one of the most advanced speech synthesis systems ever developed.” Erica also has 14 infrared sensors that let her track specific people in a room and can tell and memorize jokes. She can do almost everything on her own like think and move. Erica is very significant because she could be one of the most advanced androids ever and her creation could speed up the advancements of android technology.
Is She A Robot?
Erica is indeed a robot because she contains everything that makes a robot a robot. She has a body, Which is made of a latex type material and metal making to keep it together. She has a brain which can send commands to her head to make it follow any specific person she has targeted. She has sensors that are in her eyes and let her look at people and her surroundings. She has actuators that though she is sitting down she can use to move her arms and head using compressed air. She has a program which is to receive news and put it in to words. She has behavior that she can express in movement. Lastly what makes her a robot is that she is not remote controlled already being able to think move and talk completely on her own.
Sources
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-5328821/Erica-robot-life-like-soul.html
https://www.livescience.com/61575-erica-robot-replace-japanese-news-anchor.html
https://www.analyticsvidhya.com/blog/2018/02/erica-robot-news-anchor-japan/