When science fiction gets involved: a humanoid (sex) robot in 2018

Martin Jud

16.10.2018

Translation: machine translated

I'm amazed at the enormous progress made on humanoid robots in recent years. Despite such fascination, I wonder why humans need to build a humanoid robot in the first place?

Boston Dynamics, a company specialising in robotics, has been working on a humanoid robot for years on behalf of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, an agency of the US Department of Defense. And it's making progress. Following the presentation of the first version of the Atlas robot in July 2013, this project shows that considerable progress has been made. The aim? That a robot like Atlas, in the event of a disaster, can be dispatched to a place where humans have little or no chance of survival.

From late 2013 to mid-2017, Boston Dynamics was owned by Google, before the Japanese company Softbank took over. For me, Japan is to robots what cheese is to Belgium Switzerland.

Take a look at Atlas' latest video:

What this 175cm, 82kg robot manages to do is pretty cool. Back in November 2017, it did a salto. And in May 2018, he was balad in the wild. But to see him moving around almost yamakasi style takes my breath away.

To achieve this, Atlas embeds a complex control system that mimics the natural movements of a human's arms, trunk and legs. Stereoscopic vision, a built-in laser rangefinder and numerous sensors enable Atlas to manipulate objects in its environment. If you jostle him a little, Atlas keeps his balance. If you push him hard and he falls, he'll get back up on his own. Don't worry, as he's still lacking in emotions, he won't feel like taking revenge for the time being.

At 150kg, the first version of Atlas weighed twice as much as the current one. What's more, at the time it wasn't yet possible to power it with an independent energy source. Atlas could not move freely. What's more, the reduction in the robot's weight is the result of 3D printing technology.

A portrait in the image of Man

A two-legged robot makes little sense for most applications. If the US military had to rely on humanoid robots instead of autonomous drones, the world would be all the better for it, but it would be less effective at destroying the many targets. And that's why future androids will only intervene if no more suitable solution can be found. It would also be a waste to send an Atlas robot, as there are bespoke four-legged models such as BigDog and its subsequent development.

Man's desire to create himself in his own image is not new and appears in many religious texts and myths from different cultures. Here are a few examples: in alchemy, the homunculus serving as a demonic assistant; in the Christian religion, man is the image of God; in Judaism, the Golem. Man's desire to be a creator in his own right is at the heart of everything, assuming that the writings were written by Man. And I am intimately convinced of this there, because with such a diversity of religions and sects, it is difficult for a community of faith to render the truth.

But none of this answers the question: why? Don't we want, as human beings and through the making of an android, to test and understand ourselves? Probably, but I suspect there's something else behind it: our sexuality.

The flexibility of the libido, the ease with which it moves from one object to another, is an important character in life. (Sigmund Freud)

A robot on four legs responds less to the emotions of the majority of us than a robot on two legs. In fact, we feel more at ease with our peers. Many philosophers and psychiatrists see in our behaviour an insatiable quest leading to happiness, even sex.

Humanoid robots are arriving in force. The applications are still somewhat different: for some years now, this has been the case in Asia, with dolls and the first sex robots. But don't worry! These robots will soon be flooding our market too. Let's see how long it will be before Abyss Creations' Harmony love robot is available direct from digitec or Galaxus!

Harmony is an animated doll that can be customised: you choose the face, the hairstyle, you control the behaviour as well as the voice. As you can see in the video, the body, too, is no exception to this rule of free configuration. There's a range of nipples, which gives you an idea of the individual character that can be given to each Harmony. Henry, the men's version, is currently in the planning stage. It's not yet known whether the choice of penis will be as wide as for the lady's nipples.

Although I'm a little put off by this idea of Harmony, I'd like to do a little polling:

The thought that robots might soon look and act like humans is very much on my mind. Tell me, what do you intend to make your own android do in the future?

Martin Jud

Senior Editor

martin.jud@digitecgalaxus.ch

I find my muse in everything. When I don’t, I draw inspiration from daydreaming. After all, if you dream, you don’t sleep through life.