Japanese Robot Saya Strikes Again

Saya
Remember Saya from July last year? One of the receptionist robots at the Tokyo robot exhibition? The one created by the well-meaning folks at Kobayashi Laboratory? The one with the glassy eyes and fake smiles? I'm sorry if that brought up frightening memories but it gets worse. Apparently Saya made another appearance, this time in a less conference-type of venue.

The said appearance was at a Tokyo department store late last year. Seems like the shop might have been testing out how well Saya worked in a PR sort of setting. Thus you had the creepy bot approaching customers and offering help and suggestions. Apparently the store had so many customers, the folks doing the management was wondering if such a fembot might help ease the work load.

At this point keep in mind that Saya was programmed to recognize certain phrases and keywords. So all you had to do was tell her what you were looking for and hope that it was not that one rare item lacking from her database of must-know phrases. Good news is, she knows the general direction of the bathroom.

Actually, it is interesting to note that she was programmed to respond in 700 different ways. So she is 'trained' and capable of helping out the fussy woman who didn't intend to buy Dragonball Z for her kid as well as the worried looking woman who can't find the right dress for a party. Alright so that last one is a bit of a stretch. I wonder if she can make recommendations? In a 'Oh no, the blue dress works better with your short hair' or something like that. In a slightly more robotic voice of course.

Oooh and here's another creepy fact. Apparently she can go for a bit about where she comes from (or rather her origins). Slightly deviating from the human touch that they were going for, aren't they? There is something disturbing about a humanoid bot talking about her creation or where she was made. I suppose you can expect to find a few evil genius-types surrounding her and asking all sorts of questions. Actually, to be fair, she also talks about where she used to work. Nice bit of showing off there. Wonder if any of the aforementioned (and thoroughly imaginary) evil geniuses will offer her a job opportunity? As sort of a modern Igor, of course.

In all fairness, this is a step in the right direction. Robots in a shop can certainly help, in many ways. At the very least, it should deter folks from shop lifting. Last thing you want is Saya on your heels, with lasers shooting out her eyes. Speaking of horrific scenarios, I hope the next step of development will see Saya looking somewhat more refined. The fact that her overall facial features are not quite human-like can be a bit disconcerting. That is a feeling that folks can overcome over time, they can always say 'Oh it's a work in progress'. But er, maybe putting on make-up didn't help the matters. It gives a certain 'denial of a mid-life crisis' look.