Eerie Geminoid robot can now carry on a conversation

AUSTIN, TEXAS — The Geminoid android is probably best known for being the uncanny doppelganger of its creator Dr. Hiroshi Ishiguro of Osaka University, but up until now, the robot has been primarily a telepresence demonstration. On Sunday at South by Southwest Interactive, Geminoid carried on a free-flowing conversation.

It was amazing and a little scary.

Geminoid has been featured in endless Web videos and on TV, but it has never carried on conversations without Dr. Ishiguro pulling the strings in the background, usually from behind an Internet-connected PC. For this demonstration, Dr. Ishiguro stood to one side on the stage as Courtney Ray Goodson carried on a brief, seemingly casual conversation with Geminoid. Read more...