Meet Zeno. He can’t walk or talk yet, but his blinking eyes will track people and his face will captivate you with a range of expressions. Measuring at 17 inches tall and weighing 6 pounds, Zeno is the culmination of five years of work by Hanson Robotics.
At Hanson Robotics, they believe there’s an emerging business in the design and sale of lifelike robotic companions, or social robots. David Hanson believes that Zeno is much more than an artificial robot toy, he says Zeno is an interactive learning companion who can engage in conversation and convey human emotion through a face made of a skin-like material which Hanson has names frubber.
Talking about his latest creation, Hanson says,
“It’s a representation of robotics as a character animation medium, one that is intelligent. It sees you and recognizes your face. It learns your name and can build a relationship with you.”
If the whole thing sounds a little Sci-Fi to you then it’s probably because that’s where the inspiration from Zeno came from. Hanson said he was inspired by the same sort of realism found in the book ‘Supertoys Last All Summer Long” by Brian Aldiss.
David Hanson aims to make his little Zeno’s available to consumers within the next three years for $200-$300.
