Briefs

(This announcement is especially relevant in light of the latest KDnuggets poll, see www.kdnuggets.com/polls/2002/robots_smarter_than_humans.htm, where half of the respondents were sceptical about robot's progress. Editor.)

March 19, 2002. Reuters reports that Sony Corp. unveiled the sleek and diminutive SDR-4X prototype that can sing in vibrato and dance with fluid or funky motions.

Drawing from its vocabulary of 60,000 words, an SDR-4X asked a guest in a high, squeaky voice: "Please hold still for a minute while I memorize your face."

It also showed off its ability to walk on uneven surfaces, get back up when it's pushed over and come when it's called.

Honda Motor Co. Ltd., which showed off the latest version of its Asimo robot at a luncheon with foreign reporters, takes a more\ utilitarian approach to robots and focuses on making them do useful tasks for their human masters.

Asimo is 120 cm -- more than twice as tall as the SDR-4X -- despite the technological challenges posed by taller robots. Honda's Hirose said 120 cm was the minimum height a robot needed to move effectively around a home, given the height of such objects as tabletops, doorknobs and stairs.

If you plan to get a robot for yourself, you may need to wait a little. Sony spokesman said he expected the SDR-4X would be priced about the same as a luxury car. Honda now leases Asimo to businesses for $152,400 a year.

Here is the full story.