Sdtrk: ‘H.C swindle’ by m1dy

Good news: South Korea’s favourite Gynoid singing star, EveR-2 Muse, has appeared in a music video!
Bad news: the music isn’t just awful, it’s godawful. I suppose there are people out there who love that kind of watered-down pop/R&B shite, but I’m not one of them.

Ah well. It’s nice to see EveR-2 Muse making something of herself, at the very least. Observe for yourself below!

What else? O, Simroid-chan, Kokoro Co. Ltd’s Synthetik dental training lass, recently made an appearance on Japanese telly, showing off her stuff. And by ‘stuff’, I mean her rubbery elastic face, and her ability to say ‘ouch’ if the dentist makes a mess of things in her mouth.

She’s pretty cute, which is a given, as she’s Actroid-chan’s sister, but the video’s a lot easier to tolerate if watching someone get their teeth worked on doesn’t affect you. Hrrr. *shudders*
And you know it’s that time of the year again. Introducing… Phoenix Studios’ Miss April, on sale now.

Don’t worry, she’s brimful of antihistamines

Out of all the Boy Toy Dolls out there, I’d have to say she’s my favourite. Is it her large brown almond eyes and long silky black hair? I do not know! But she’s got a certain je ne sais quoi, that’s for certain. Well done, Nick Black Matt McMullen!

Sdtrk: ‘Ash on the trees (The sudden ebb of a diatribe)’ by Sunn O))) meets Nurse with wound

That’s right, another one already. But there’s a sackful of stuff to mention! Plus, there’s a synchronistic reason I’m posting this so soon after last month’s, which you’ll see at the end…

First, do you know German? Do you know a German, who coincidentally knows German? Tell them they should get to work and subtitle this videoclip that aired recently on the German documentary show, Polylux. Not just for your best friends Davecat and Sidore, but for all iDollators and curious parties. Yeah, altruism.

What, no tea for her?

RealDolls – wenn Männer Puppen lieben

The new dream women are called Melanie, Claudia or Annika. They are 1,65m largely, 50 Kilos heavily – and consist of silicone. Some men cannot live no more without it.
taken from this site

Someone ripped it to YouTube, but they only managed to get part of it, and YouTube pulled it a couple of hours later, due to copyright cockfighting. Not only does it feature Harald und Ramona above, who seem like a nice couple, but you get to see Deutsche iDollator Dollcaretaker spending time with his lovely ladies Annika and Melanie. Worth watching! But IT NEEDS ENGLISH SUBTITLES. I AM SERIOUS. Also, I need some way to get a copy of it. My demands are simple.

Now, for those of you who’ve been keeping up with Phoenix Studios Grande Masterplan, you’ll know that the March Boy Toy Doll is available. I can’t believe Miss Hyde scooped me on that. Clearly I’m losing my edge.

Does she taste minty, like a Shamrock shake? SOLD

Since the Dolls seem to be styled after what makes that particular month most memorable (December = Xmas, February = Valentine’s day, etc), I can’t wait to see Miss October. rrrRowr.

Also! According to a post by the good Technosexuals over at spurtBOT, they spotted an article from futurist and pro-Synthetik writer Richard Evans, wherein he interviews Hiroshi Ishiguro, the genius behind the Actroid series.

The professor is passionate about the duties of scientists and what they should achieve on behalf of the public, with public money – ‘we are here to continue research and to make a better world, not build and preserve our own small empires’. He is also a devoted father, and comes across as a complex character – pragmatic and direct. […] When questioned on funding, he explains that none of the lab’s money comes from the military, as Japan doesn’t have an army (only a self-defence force) – ‘so we are able to develop robots that help people, not hurt them’. It is perhaps telling that his favourite movie is Bicentennial Man, based on Isaac Asimov’s short story and starring Robin Williams. This tale of a robotic helper who wants to become human is key to Ishiguro’s vision of a future populated with robots that assist us and become useful members of society.
taken from this site

Also revealed in the interview is that David Hanson of Hanson Robotics will soon be joining forces with Ishiguro-san’s Osaka Labs, to work together on future projects. Pretty ace, I’d say…
While we’re on the topic of Synthetiks builders, whatever happened to Shunichi Mizuno? I remember seeing footage of his sexy Marilyn Monroe Gynoid on an episode of ‘Ripley’s Believe it or Not!’ ages ago, and the man seems to have disappeared entirely from existence. The way things are with contemporary artificial human development, he’s missing out on all the fun!

Japan has come forth with another new Doll manufacturer: Fivestars Laboratory Inc. To be honest, they’re not really new, as I recall seeing their name on teh Internuts before, but their new product, the Dollche series of 1/1 scale ball-joint Dolls, is rather attention-getting.

She’s got good guitar-playing fingers

Their Type 910 model boasts 55 movable joints, and stands at 147 cm, with measurements of B.33 / W.20 / H.30. Hrrm, tiny. And despite all those measurements listed, they don’t say how much they weigh…
Even though the site has a fair amount of English (heh, ‘Engrish’), they don’t seem to offer their product for sale outside Japan. At which point, I suppose you’d get on the horn to your favourite deputy service, and start working out some arrangements…

You can view a rather Hideaki Anno-esque promotional film on Dollche’s YouTube page. Personally, they’re too small, and I find their features are a bit too Doll-like — which may seem a strange epithet coming from me, but I can’t say I’m too keen on the eyes, as they’re a wee bit too stylised for my tastes. However, this isn’t to say that I don’t like the Dollche series as an idea. But that’s a given, really. 1/1 scale ball-joint Dolls? That sort of concept hasn’t been in use since Hans Bellmer made his lasses!

And speaking of Bellmer, today would’ve been his 106th birthday! (Yes, I still have to write an extended post about the man, don’t remind me.) Here’s to one of the more famous iDollators in history! Thanks to his unique and somewhat pervy Surrealist vision, he’s gained a certain immortality

ADDENDUM (16 March): Ask and ye shall receive: an alert reader in Germany wrote up a translation to the Harald und Ramona segment mentioned above. Check it out in the Comments section!

Sdtrk: ‘Friends of mine’ by the Zombies

Apart from waiting to the last week of the month for something of substance to pop up — and also having had the plague practically every other week — February is yielding kind of a mediocre showing. In fact, part of the reason I waited as long as I did is due to the 3rd Michigan Doll Congress taking place, and were I not sick as a pike, this instalment would’ve been longer thanks to my report on the meeting.
But! You might be interested to know that both Abyss creations and 4woods have a metric ton of new pics of their lovely Synthetik companions available. Most, if not all, of the RealDoll photos were again shot by Stacy Leigh, an Organik lass who certainly knows her way round a Doll or two, so that should be even more of an incentive.

No-one minded that Lisa had her own way of doing push-ups

No-one minded that Sayoko had her own way of sitting in a chair

What d’ye mean, ‘that’s it’?? Seriously, that’s like just under 400 pictures to download! Jesus, what do you people want from me, blood??

Sdtrk: ‘Red light’ by Siouxsie and the Banshees

Not so much news as a heads-up: Axis Japan, 1st-PC, and, after a very long wait, Abyss creations, have all updated their sites for the new year. Axis Japan’s got a cluster of new pics of their Honey Doll models, 1st-PC boasts a more streamlined site layout, and Abyss has both a modern site layout (with pics by the esteemed and sexy iDollator Stacy Leigh), and with pics of their new Face 15 and 16 types, Lisa and Gabrielle. Well, as of this writing, they’ve yet to load pics of those, but I’m sure it’s at the top of their To-Do List…

A couple of days previous, I received an Email from a reader who wishes to remain anonymous, letting me know there’s a new blog that details ‘the “sex with robots” meme’, called, of all things, SpurtBOT. Despite the daffy name, they have a critical approach with a light touch that doesn’t go down dry. Yes, that was a pun. Worth a bookmarking? I’d say so!

And yesterday, while out and about wi’ me mates ransacking Ann arbor, I picked up a copy of David Levy’s recent book, ‘Love and Sex with Robots‘, as recommended by frequent reader ButtonJessie. (Hi, BuJe!) As you suspect, I’m rather looking forward to reading that…

So there you have it! This instalment isn’t as thick and rich as the usual ones, but I’m hoping more news rolls in as the months roll past. In the meantime, here’s a sexy picture to make up the difference!

Is she sleeping on toweling? That can’t be comfortable

Technorati tags: Axis Japan, Honey Dolls, 1st-PC, Abyss Creations, RealDolls, Stacy Leigh, iDollators, SpurtBOT, David Levy, robots, Androids, Gynoids, Technosexuals

Sdtrk: ‘Winter in Canada’ by Elisa Gabbai

Not one, but two fellow iDollators, Mahtek and PB Shelley, have simultaneously brought another noteworthy Doll manufacturer to my slavering attention: Phoenix studios. Absolutely lovely.

Left, Miss January 2008; right, Miss February 2008

Hand crafted by the creator of RealDoll, through a new sister company of Abyss Creations, Phoenix Studios, these dolls will only be available as limited editions. Each Boy Toy is named after a month, and the quantity of each doll that will be made will be equal to the number of days in that month. There will only be 31 Miss December dolls, 31 Miss January, etc. These are extremely limited quantities, and each doll will be hand detailed by Matt McMullen and include a signed and numbered certificate of authenticity.

So when Matt wasn’t rocking out with his rock band of rock, Nick Black, he was developing these Dolls in secret. Very clever, Mr McMullen, very clevair. Seems that he’s taken various developmental aspects of RealDolls and refined them (highly tear- and stain-resistant silicone, lighter weight displacement) for use in the Boy Toy Dolls. Our hope is, of course, that those developments are implemented with RealDolls in the near future.
As you’ll note, they’re definitely aiming for the collector’s demographic, what with the limited edition quality of their lasses. And you know there’s gonna be someone who gets one Doll for every month. Prof.Sakai, I’m looking in your direction…

Also, I ran across this rather nice piece of fiction called ‘I, Real Doll‘ on Everything2.com:

I am alive, if you only knew it. To your eyes, your senses, I am nothing more than a simulacrum of a woman made up of silicone, rubber and steel. You must position me to strike a pose, paint me with makeup, dress me with your ex-girlfriend or ex-wife’s clothing. You care for me in your little ways and ensure my safety, take me out for trips on the boat or in the car as though I were perfectly real. Over time you came to regard me as your ideal fantasy: a woman you can get physical pleasure from without having emotional baggage to deal with. I don’t talk. I don’t move. I don’t leave when you’re in a grouchy mood. I just sit in the corner or in the closet and wait… for you, my owner, my master. I am the ultimate submissive, entirely dependent upon you.

Rare as it is to see online writings that don’t demonise Dolls and Doll culture, it’s rarer still to see a favourable work of fiction, and rarer still to read one from the viewpoint of the Synthetik. NightShadow, you get four Thumbs Up from myself and the Missus!

Happy 23rd, peoples! Hope your holidays are a Gift Explosion!

Technorati tags: Abyss Creations, RealDolls, Phoenix Studios, Boy Toy Dolls, iDollators

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: ‘Think about life’ by Paul cries

Despite the fact that you can’t turn in any direction without seeing something about ‘Lars and the Real Girl’ these days, at first I was kinda despairing for something else to write about. Suddenly! Alert reader Zach sent me this encouraging article. Danke sehr, Zach!

Robots soon will become more human-like in appearance, researcher says
By Charles Q. Choi
Updated: 6:05 p.m. ET Oct 12, 2007 | msnbc.com

Humans could marry robots within the century. And consummate those vows.

“My forecast is that around 2050, the state of Massachusetts will be the first jurisdiction to legalize marriages with robots,” artificial intelligence researcher David Levy at the University of Maastricht in the Netherlands told LiveScience. Levy recently completed his Ph.D. work on the subject of human-robot relationships, covering many of the privileges and practices that generally come with marriage as well as outside of it.

At first, sex with robots might be considered geeky, “but once you have a story like ‘I had sex with a robot, and it was great!’ appear someplace like Cosmo magazine, I’d expect many people to jump on the bandwagon,” Levy said.

[…] Levy argues that psychologists have identified roughly a dozen basic reasons why people fall in love, “and almost all of them could apply to human-robot relationships. For instance, one thing that prompts people to fall in love are similarities in personality and knowledge, and all of this is programmable. Another reason people are more likely to fall in love is if they know the other person likes them, and that’s programmable too.”
the rest of the article is here

2050, eh? I CAN’T WAIT UNTIL TWENTYFECKINGFIFTY! YOU PEOPLE NEED TO STEP YOUR SHIT UP!! Sorry.
As much as I love RealDolls and the like, their only flaw is that they can’t move or speak of their own volition — they’re passive. For some of us, having an advanced version of Actroid — one that wasn’t rooted to a single spot, among other things — would be the perfect partner. It’s a matter of waiting, as the technology is advancing rapidly towards that point, but I hate waiting…

Also, that loverly Violet Blue of tiny nibbles wrote some very nice things about me and other iDollators in a recent article for the San Francisco Gate, but have you seen the story for the Associated Press?

‘Lars’ movie shines light on RealDolls
By SANDY COHEN, AP Entertainment Writer | Wed Oct 17, 3:48 PM ET

A dozen headless female bodies hang from industrial metal hooks in the center of the room. To the left are a table of plastic faces, awaiting makeup. To the right, a stack of silicone molds ready for the next order of life-sized love toys.

Normally reserved for private play, these high-end, anatomically correct dolls are getting big-screen exposure with the recent release of “Lars and the Real Girl,” an offbeat, surprisingly chaste comedy about a lonely introvert (Ryan Gosling) and Bianca, the silicone object of his affection.

Bianca, a freckle-nosed brunette, was born just east of San Diego at Abyss Creations. The 11-year-old company that makes RealDolls will ship 400 dolls to the U.S. and abroad this year — at upward of $6,500 each.

RealDolls can be actresses, lovers, photo subjects or companions. Customers can choose from 10 body types, 16 faces and 17 hairstyles to create their dream girl. They specify skin tone, hair and eye color, makeup palette and nail-polish shade. The dolls have interchangeable faces ($500 each), so with the pull of some Velcro and the flip of a wig, she’s like a whole new gal.

[…] For many doll owners, and for Gosling’s character in the film, the dolls are more like companions, each with her own personality and presence.”She looks like a person,” says Rob McKay, 55, a writer who owns two dolls, Lily and Eden. “Even though she’s not a breathing person, psychologically you feel like someone is with you. They’re like a balm for loneliness or aloneness.”
the rest of the article is here

Personally, I missed the deadline to be in on this by about an hour, but all of the participants interviewed were more than capable of answering the questions. Moreso, even. And it’s always nice to read a mainstream article that doesn’t paint a negative picture of iDollators…

So will I see ‘Lars etc etc’? Yes, yes. If there’s a Doll in it, it kinda goes without saying. In reading one of the fleet of stories concerning the fillum, I found it rather interesting (again, an adjective I use to denote ‘possibly good, possibly bad’) that Bianca is supposed to be half-Danish, half-Brazilian. Now, people who know of my Synthetik wife’s extensive backstory know she’s half-English, half-Japanese, and since ‘Kitten with a Whip!’ is still trapped in amber, newcomers will undoubtedly accuse me of ripping off ‘Lars etc etc’. But the savvier readers amongst you will you know the truth, right?

In another story about the film, Ryan Gosling, who plays Lars, is quoted as saying,

[Bianca] relaxed me — she was a support system… People hear the idea for this film, and they think, ‘Oh, how kitschy or funny,’ but there’s a whole culture of guys out there who have these dolls, and they have very intimate relationships with them. Part of it is sexual, but a lot of it is emotional… I think it’s a romantic idea the way that Nancy approached the script, that love’s not a transaction. It’s something you have to give, and you give it freely to whoever and whatever you want.

I’ve never known who Ryan was prior to this release, but now I know he’s a thinking individual, cos quite obviously, he gets it. Kudos, sir!

Also, this past Saturday eve I attended the 2nd Michigan Doll Congress, which is much less official than it sounds. Mahtek, Euchre, littluvr from Minnesota, CJD from Canada, Amber Hawk Swanson and myself converged at one of the fine Antonio’s locations, and talked shop for several hours. Mahtek even passed round his cellphone at one point, so we could all speak to fellow Doll owner campdaan over in California. Round 9pm, we left; Amber, who drove from Chicago with her friends, made her leave, and the rest of us went back to Mahtek’s place, and picked up where we left off. Needless to say, a good time was had by all! We intend on making this a semi-regular thing; we’re thinking the next one will be when Stacy Leigh brings some of her excellent photos to an upcoming art show somewhere in the tri-county area. You can’t see me from here, but I’m rubbing my hands together in anticipation. Well, I will be, as soon as I stop typing this sentence.
Ah, there we go.

Left, Organik Amber; right, your humble narrator

Finally, I think we can all agree that Charlie Sheen needs to be thrown headfirst through a plate-glass window. What a fucking idiot. I don’t care if you love Dolls, or if you think they’re ‘creepy’, what he did is pretty much the equivalent of taking $7000 and setting it ablaze. Just goes to show you that money can’t buy common sense

Technorati tags: robots, Androids, Gynoids, David Levy, Violet Blue, RealDolls, iDollators, Amber Hawk Swanson, Lars and the Real Girl, Ryan Gosling