
According to Xinuanet, Japanese researchers have developed humanoid robots that can laugh and smile as it mimics a person's facial expressions. Hiroshi Ishiguro, a professor at Osaka University who led the research stated, "A new technology always creates some fears and negative opinions, but the researchers wanted to make robots that could express something similar to human emotions."
The robots receive electric signals from the person it is modeled on; the robot can move its rubber facial skin to imitate expressions such as smiling and frowning. The developers made the robots to look exactly like an attractive woman in her 20s. The two robots are even dressed in the same clothes. Afterwards, the woman said to reporters, "I felt like I had a twin sister." These life-like robots are expected to be used in real-life situations such as in hospitals.