Inventor builds human-looking android

Japanese scientists have unveiled the most human-looking robot yet devised -- a "female" called Repliee Q1, the BBC reported Wednesday.

The new android reportedly has flexible silicone for skin and a number of sensors and motors to allow her to act in a human manner. She can turn, flutter her eyelids and even appear to breathe.

Professor Hiroshi Ishiguru of Osaka University, Repliee Q1's designer, said it has 31 actuators in its upper body, powered by an air compressor, programmed to allow it to move like a human.

"I have developed many robots before," Ishiguru told the BBC, including Repliee R1, which had the appearance of a 5-year-old Japanese girl.

To program Repliee Q1, a computer analyzed the motions of a human and used them as a template for the way the android moves.

The android can be designed to follow the movement of a human wearing motion sensors, or act independently. It can also interact with people and respond to their touch.

Ishiguru told the BBC he believes it may be possible to build an android that could pass for a human, if only for a few seconds.

Copyright 2005 by United Press International