March 25, 2011 04:26 pm EDT

TEROOS robotic avatar gives your long-distance girlfriend a tiny, googly-eyed face (video)

Do you pine for animatronic eyes and robots that whisper sweet nothings in your ear? Well, geeks with distant girlfriends rejoice, because TEROOS, the shoulder-mounted, remotely-controlled telepresence avatar has arrived. Created by researchers from Keio University in Japan, the little bot has a camera and mic so far away friends can see and hear what you do, while a directional speaker keeps your conversations private. Communication's courtesy of Skype, while some custom code lets users control the device's six-axis articulating head. It's not an independent system, however, as it relies upon a smartphone to relay commands from a PC to the avatar through Bluetooth. Users can also change the bot's facial expressions thanks to a couple of googly eyes and mechanical eyelids, though it doesn't have quite the emotional range of other androids from the land of the rising sun. Intrigued? Check the vid after the break.

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TEROOS robotic avatar gives your long-distance girlfriend a tiny, googly-eyed face (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 25 Mar 2011 12:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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