This robot is Hiro-chan. It’s made by Vstone, a Japanese robotics company known for producing a variety of totally normal educational and hobby robotics kits and parts. Hiro-chan is not what we would call totally normal, since it very obviously does not have a face. Vstone calls Hiro-chan a “healing communication device,” and while the whole faceless aspect is definitely weird, there is a reason for it, which unsurprisingly involves Hiroshi Ishiguro and his ATR Lab.

So why doesn’t the robot have a face? Since the functionality of the robot depends on you getting it go from sad to happy, Vstone says that giving the robot a face (and a fixed expression) would make that much less convincing and emotionally fulfilling—the robot would have the “wrong” expression half the time. Instead, the user can listen to Hiro-chan’s audio cues and imagine a face. Or not. Either way, the Uncanny Valley effect is avoided (as long as you can get over the complete lack of face, which I personally couldn’t), and the cost of the robot is kept low since there’s no need for actuators or a display.

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miamizsun wrote: THE INCREDIBLE BULK Female bodybuilder Natalia Kuznetsov , 26, returns to the sport looking more muscly than ever… so would you dare take her on? The mighty Russian retired after bagging the European bench press and deadlift titles What my eyes have seen can't be unseen....

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miamizsun wrote: THE INCREDIBLE BULK Female bodybuilder Natalia Kuznetsov , 26, returns to the sport looking more muscly than ever… so would you dare take her on? The mighty Russian retired after bagging the European bench press and deadlift titles

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THE INCREDIBLE BULK Female bodybuilder Natalia Kuznetsov , 26, returns to the sport looking more muscly than ever… so would you dare take her on? The mighty Russian retired after bagging the European bench press and deadlift titles

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miamizsun wrote:

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Hiro-chan Is a Faceless Robot Baby

This therapeutic robot for seniors gets more emotional connections from not having a face

Female bodybuilder Natalia Kuznetsov , 26, returns to the sport looking more muscly than ever… so would you dare take her on?

Female bodybuilder Natalia Kuznetsov , 26, returns to the sport looking more muscly than ever… so would you dare take her on?

Female bodybuilder Natalia Kuznetsov , 26, returns to the sport looking more muscly than ever… so would you dare take her on?