Elfoid -- a REAL android phone
Robotics researchers from Osaka University have teamed up with NTT Docomo and Qualcomm to develop a handheld humanoid phone that brings a new dimension to mobile communications. A prototype of the device -- called "Elfoid P1" -- was unveiled at a presentation in Tokyo on March 3.
The Elfoid phone is a miniature version of the Telenoid R1 robot developed last year by a research team led by Osaka University professor Hiroshi Ishiguro. The current prototype measures 20 centimeters (8 in) long, is covered in a soft fleshy urethane skin, and has the same genderless and ageless appearance as the Telenoid. The control buttons are embedded in the chest, which glows green when the Elfoid is in use.
Dr. Ishiguro with Telenoid and Elfoid [Photo by: eSeL.at]
Like the full-sized Telenoid robot, the Elfoid handset is designed to add an element of realism to long-distance communication by recreating the physical presence of a remote user.
[Photo: Ars Electronica]
Equipped with a camera and motion-capture system, the Elfoid phone will be able to watch the user's face and transmit motion data to another Elfoid phone, which can then reproduce the face and head movements in real-time.
[Photo by: d_&_r]
The current prototype is unable to move, but future versions will incorporate tiny motors and parts made from shape-memory alloys, allowing the Elfoid to move its eyes, mouth, neck and arms. Other features will include a temperature sensor, accelerometer, and an easy-to-use voice and gesture based interface.
[Photo by: antjeverena]
The developers hope to have a fully operational Elfoid mobile phone within five years.
[Sources: ATR, Gizmodo Japan, Yomiuri]
bug_eyes
So cuuuute! I hope they sell little wigs and accessories so I can dress him up like my boyfriend (if we're still together in 5 yrs).
[]rockabit
I actually think they're creepy as hell. I like it :)
[]Travis
i'm scared
[]Shiki
Ahhh!! It's terrifying! \(TT^TT)/
[]plague
Needs liberal application of FIRE
[]boog.
scary as hell im having the nightmares alreaady
[]Dr. When
A device like this has the potential to revolutionize the way we communicate. Sadly though, like every other great new technological innovation in history, it is being met with fear and resistance.
Robot bashing may be the "in" thing today, but tomorrow we will be embracing them in ways we can now only barely imagine. Bravo to the Elfoid developers for being two steps ahead of the times.
[]plague
You go ahead on talk on a mutated tadpole thing. I'll pass.
[]wtfphone
how will it revolutionize anything? Its still basically a phone isnt it? What new functions does it add being in the form of a doll? If anything it seems like it would set communication back as there are minimal buttons and no screen... seems like its just a neat little piece of art, but its not going to really "change" anything unless it actually has anything to change..
[]Kozu
Revolutionary! It opens up a whole new perspective on phone sex.
[]Steve
Kill it with fire, please.
[]David Fullam
Creepy as all f-ing hell.
[]even
Think this is creepy? Imagine what it would be like with a David Lynch soundtrack.
[]romeo
BLADERUNNER
[]phr34kish
Can anybody else say Chobits?
[]Joe436
This is the type of thing you find in a serial killer's basement.
[]Ulashima
The thing about those is to mimic the spoken person's movements, and it's understandable....but I don't think my mum (or anybody else's mum for that matter) looks like one of these. A nice idea but....well, not very pleasant-looking. Those things look like dead babies and that's creepy for anyone.
Onr thing...if you laugh at or smirk at somebody on this phone (especially annoying bosses and clients etc), you'll be caught red handed.
[]42
This can only be made and used in Japan xD
[]Ra
The perfect cell phone, if you are a Silent hill abomination! =D
[]RBeezy
what the crack? chindogu if I ever saw some...
[]Mel
we need more people like Dr I around.
[]Anything that brings about an awareness of communication
or helps to advance human communication is urgently necessary in a society where a sense of community and efforts to communicate and express ourselves has taken a back seat. This is not something to be scared of.
NEO MAX
It's horrible.
[]Tubad
You wont find me anywhere near those things.
[]Kenyetta Todd
I am NOT putting that thing anywhere near my head!
[]Mobile freak
You gotta be kidding... This is spooky s#1t
[]Sudhir
To all the backward luddites saying it is spooky and making lame horror movie references what with dolls coming to life, all I have to say is this, Imagine what was being said about the mobile phone, TV, electricity and even modern medical impediments before their time? Just the same thing you guys say. Imagine a television, which has a human being inside a screen talking and doing things... that is the extreme of creepiness yet something we take for granted. Thinking up such a device in its infancy would have found many naysayers as well. I say innovation and creative applications are dying. That's the reason you have so many remakes in Hollywood for example. Just chill and accept this as a progression in human communication. The Japanese came up with laptops and we are all using it today. They came up with "Mobile phones you can watch TV and videos on" in the late 90s/early 2000s and we have our modern smartphones(even socalled apple's innovative pinch zoom is from an early Mitsubishi prototype). So who knows where this will go! It may be a hit or miss but it sure is an interesting try. I tell this as an interaction design masters student doing his thesis and I sure am including this in my references page!
[]anyone here in 2022
are there any updates to the development of this thing, i stg if it gets walking capabilites im gonna be far away
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