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http://www.sabcnews.com/world/asia1pacific/0,2172,132733,00.htmlScientists unveil female robot
August 09, 2006, 17:30
A group of Chinese scientists completed their work last week on a new robot named Miss Rong Cheng. The robot's designers say she is equipped with cutting-edge technology in human-to-robot interaction and responds to human voices.
The robot is designed to look like a woman and it is programmed to speak Mandarin as well as a Sichuan dialect because she will be sent to the Sichuan Science Museum in Chengdu to act as a receptionist and tour guide.
"Our institute has been making great efforts in developing voice recognition system for many years ... Meanwhile, the voice recognition function can make the communication between humans and robots more natural and personal, which highlights the progress we have achieved in making our robots more human-like", Yue Hongqiang, the robot's designer, said.
Robot to be sold to hotels, entertainment outlets
The cost of this project is $37 500 and besides dancing and greeting, the 168cm, 60kg "beauty" responds to 500 to 1 000 commands in Mandarin. It took around a year for the scientists to finish this first human simulation robot in China.
The designers hope to sell the robots next year to customers such as hotels and entertainment outlets. The most advanced robot in the world is sleek-looking Asimo, produced by Japanese auto-maker Honda. Asimo, who can walk at a speed of one mile per hour and climb up and down stairs, costs roughly $1 million. - Reuters
Here is a link to another article about Miss Rong Cheng:
http://english.people.com.cn/200608/05/eng20060805_290091.html