TOKYOMANGO

Video: wedding officiated by a robot

via Pop Sci

Samurai robot waiters in Thailand

There's a Japanese restaurant in Thailand with robot waiters dressed like samurai. Wow.

Link

Video: Schoolgirl robot dances to J-pop song

Robots might be replacing humans in a lot of things, but one thing they still can't do is dance. At the Robo-One international exhibition this past weekend at Tokyo Big Sight, this schoolgirl bot danced to a Japanese pop song. I love how the people in the back are keeping a straight face. I think the guy on her left might be the exhibitor.

via Raw Feed

Space-age robot art from the 1950s

Life Magazine has a great collection of robot art from Japan in the 1950s. Space travel was becoming a hot topic, science fiction was picking up steam, and toy companies were making all kinds of robot and space age-themed trinkets. Here are a few examples, with more at the Life web site.

Polaris, a new cell phone x robot that acts as a desktop secretary

This is Polaris, a robot designed by KDDI and Flower Robotics that monitors your behavior via your cell phone and then communicates to you via your TV. Basically what it does is function as an intelligent dock for your cell phone — when you put the phone on it, it extracts information from the handset and then gives you recommendations and reminders. Kinda like a miniature personal secretary! It also has the ability to self-navigate on flat surfaces. We should be seeing this in the consumer market soon — so far it's just a prototype.

via Impress Watch (Japanese)