Sdtrk: ‘Jeane’ by the Smiths

Under normal circumstances, when I hear the word ‘children’, I automatically think ‘leash laws’, but this article on the Telegraph’s website reminds me that children really are the future.
Great, now I’ve got that goddamned Whitney Houston song running through my head.

Children treat nursery robot as a human
By Roger Highfield, Science Editor | Last Updated: 12:01am GMT 06/11/2007

Child-like robots are being developed for nursery schools after researchers found that toddlers are able to regard their artificial friends as human.

The key step for robots to help teachers is for the automatons to be accepted by toddlers as social peers who are worth paying attention to – and bonding with – a hurdle that is crossed today in a study published by a team from the University of California, San Diego, UCSD.

Robots are capable of impressive mechanical feats, but the study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences now shows that researchers are close to solving more difficult challenge: being accepted as being a peer, at least by the smaller members of our species.

The problem is that most robots do not hold a toddler’s attention. The most successful so far have been storytellers, but even these can only hold interest for approximately 10 hours.

Now Dr Fumihide Tanaka of UCSD and colleagues has done much better by introducing a prototype “social robot” into a classroom of toddlers for five months.

A human controller sent very occasional instructions for the robot to turn its head or perform an action like giggling or dancing. The robot was programmed to lie down when its batteries were running out. Often children would put a blanket on him, saying “night-night”. Early in the study, some children even cried when he keeled over.

The researchers videotaped the sessions and scored the quality of the interactions, noting that the children’s social contact with the robot increased over time.

The children lost interest when the robot was reprogrammed to dance randomly, but the robot again became popular after resuming its original operating mode. “By the last sessions, five months later, they treated the robot as a peer rather than as a toy,” the team reports.
the rest of the article is here

This is an incredibly important aspect to upcoming Synthetik/Organik interaction, as if a child grows up alongside robots, they won’t develop a needless fear of or prejudice against robots. Obviously, there more than enough blinkered adults out there now who’ve watched the ‘Terminator’ movies and took them as fact, but kids don’t have that ridiculous conditioning. It’s my hope that successive generations of Organiks can see Synthetiks as their equals, but it’s obviously best to start raising children with that sort of open-mindedness as soon as possible. It’s like any prejudice against any race, colour, creed, etc, really — stamp it out early, and your children develop into better human beings. Kudos, UCSD researchers!

On the passive Synthetik (we just call ’em Dolls) front, 4woods does good again, with the release of the 小悪魔 (‘Little Devil’) version of their somewhat-dour-yet-cute Neu lass, only available for viewing on the Japanese side of the site. A saucy minx!

Give her a black pair of PVC bat wings, and she’s a RYU’S FORM SITE character

Now all she is, really, is a tattooed version of their Neu Doll, with a darker paint scheme and a brown wig. Does she genuinely count as a new Doll? Err… maybe? She’s a rarer version of a (semi-)rare Doll, rather like when DeLorean made the limited edition gold version of their fantastic automobile.
I have to say that I prefer the Little Devil Neu over the bog-standard version, but I would say that. But how long will those tattoos last, is my question? Get your photos in as soon as you can before they rub off!

Not to be outdone, Orient industry have released yet another variation of their popular CandyGirl Jewel line, called CandyGirl Jewel Diva. Much like their CandyGirl Jewel Rosa series, these gorgeous lasses get my Seal of Approval.

If I were her, I’d be staring at my foot, too

At about 5’3″ (taller than the Missus?), just shy of 75 lbs (34 kgs) and with the measurements 34 / 26 / 38, they’re fantastic enough, but the distinction that really sets them apart from all seventy-two of the other types of CandyGirl are their more realistically-sculpted faces. In fact, the Mao-type (pictured above) kinda resembles 4woods’ Mitsumi. Not that I’m complaining. Sexy? Yes!

And finally, performance artist and iDollator Amber Hawk Swanson has slapped together a fine site of her own that details her various projects and appearances, and features a passel of photos and video of her with her Doll twin/bride. Go check it out!

‘Shouting to hear the echoes’. We’ve seen the future, and it’s silicone-based

Technorati tags: robots, Androids, Gynoids, 4woods, Orient industry, iDollators, RealDolls, Amber Hawk Swanson

Sdtrk: ‘The weeping dancefloor’ by The caretaker

Normally, I don’t plump for Orient industry’s CandyGirl Dolls cos most of them don’t look mature enough for me, but their new Jewel Rosa line has a certain je ne sais quoi that’s captured my attention. I’m thinking it might be their generously-sized dirty pillows.

N.B.: not to be confused with the Pixies‘ ‘Surfer Rosa’

According to a Japanese Doll news site filtered through Babelfish, it says

Name of truth striking of Orient Industry with “Jewel Rosa”, with atmosphere new work 3 of heads seems that aims toward the doll of the adult. It meaning that product information is not announced yet, details are unclear, but, because it made the naming, “Jewel Rosa” specially, it probably means being the essential difference in size of the bust and other than tenderness. In other words to the framework which past from the framework, it is can do posing slowly evolution (?) That you think whether it is not to do. As for the head, Koyuki (18), Ami (22), Sachiko (26) with, the kind of air which the supposition kind of age which is said separately is produced does. Furthermore, start of incoming order November 2nd from 9 o’clock in the afternoon.

Ahh, machine translations: truly High Comedy. But you get the gist of it, I’m sure. I hope!
More news on the Jewel Rosa series as it rolls past me

Technorati tags: Orient industry, CandyGirl

Sdtrk: ‘Flashback’ by Ministry

I would say so, yes! Otherwise I wouldn’t be posting about it..
Last night, whilst grabbing the Interbutt by the lapels and shaking information concerning ‘My living Doll‘ out of it, I saw a home theatre forum where they had a thread about telly shows that people would love to see on DVD. One poster commented:

according to Julie Newmar Official website – Julie herself owns the rights to all 26 episodes of My Living Doll and apparently owns copies of each episode — here is a link to her website so you can read all about it — she is planning to release them onto dvd— http://www.julienewmar.com/links.html

How incredible would that be, I ask you? I already know the answer — pretty damned. I’ve recently obtained, through a secret website, copies of six of the 26 episodes of ‘My living Doll’ burned to a DVD, and the show’s definitely worth seeing. Apart from the fact that Julie Newmar plays a Gynoid — which would clearly be any Technosexual’s dream come true — the show’s so cheesy, it makes ‘Three’s company’ look like the Royal Shakespeare Company. But I love ‘Three’s company’, so your mileage may vary.
So now I have to get round to writing Ms Newmar. She’s sitting on gold, I tell you! GOLD!!

Also, a new Doll company challenger has appeared, fighting for dominance in the cut-throat world of Japanese Dutch-wife production: the Erie series of Dolls, by Cruyff.

EEEEE NO PEEKING, you MASHER

Cute? Yes, although that’s really all I can say about them — they possess a generic style of cute. As any iDollators worth their salt know, American Synthetiks manufacturers have the lock on making their lasses sexy, whereas the Japanese are focussing on cute. To me, the Erie Dolls have a look somewhere between UNISON’s Superdolls, and Orient Industry’s CandyGirls — visually they’re so similar, that you want to ask Cruyff (quite a name, by the way — sounds like a pastry) ‘so, what exactly makes your Dolls different?’ Apart from the one-piece assembly, and the relatively inexpensive price, that is.
I’m really hoping the next Japanese company that springs up takes a different aesthetic approach, and makes their lasses look less like another CandyGirl imitation, and more like, say, Chestnut co. Ltd’s late-lamented Rare-Borg..
Still and all, the Erie Dolls ain’t too shabby, and the more Synthetiks manufacturers out there, the better. But you knew that.

Also also, I’ve managed to get a bonafide DVD copy of Luis García Berlanga’s ‘Tamaño natural’, aka ‘Grandeur nature’, aka ‘Grandezza naturale’, aka ‘Life size’, aka ‘Love doll’, aka ‘The Doll’. Heh, now you see why it took so long to hunt down a copy. But it’s a pretty ace little fillum overall — almost tailor-made for iDollators. Astonishingly enough, it’s from the Seventies!

She was a biter. But he loved her regardless

The only drawback to the DVD is that it’s in Spanish with no subtitles whatsoever. C’est la vie. Or however you say that in Español.

Finally, on a more personal front, Marika, Sidore-chan and I might well be in front of a camera again sometime in the next month or so, for a documentary being shot by an English film crew. Details, as always, are forthcoming..

‘Shouting to hear the echoes’. Synthetiks? Really? No shit?

Technorati tags: Julie Newmar, Gynoid, iDollator, Technosexual

Posted in Media cavalcade, Other automata, RealDolls & other 'love dolls', Sidore, our ladies, and I, Synthetiks | 9 comments »