I would suppose that another hugger which will certainly make most grown men wet their pants would be the Facehugger from the Alien movie franchise, and here we are with a real life hugger – albeit not one that has acid blood, coming in the form of the Affetto infant robot. Hailing from Osaka University, the Affetto infant robot might seem cute at first, but it actually isn’t all that cut out to be – as those who check it out might get creeped out . Sure, Affetto is able to hug you like a real baby (although it will not smell like one), it now comes completely fitted with the relevant limbs, which makes it far more advanced than what it was 1.5 years ago, where back then it was nothing but a robotic face. Being fitted with new limbs, not to mention coming draped in a grey hoodie, among the improvements made to the Affetto infant robot include 20 pneumatic actuators which will help him move his arms, neck, and spine freely.
Right now, this project would fall under the umbrella of “cognitive developmental robotics,” which will involve the field of robotics to study human development. The main point would see the interplay between caregivers and developing babies. According to Osaka University laboratory’s site, Affetto can be seen “interacting with the environment and people nearby is an important factor in development. In order to create the same conditions as with a real child, we’re developing a child robot that’s the same size, with a soft body, rich facial expressions, and small hands.”
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