Written on June 9, 2008 – 8:17 am | by Bogdan Alex |
The last couple of years have seen an accelerated production of robot models, coming from Japanese realms mostly. Man-sized robots like Asimo are getting more and more attention, and androids that simulate the looks and behavior of men are perfected by the day. Among the latest products on this market comes from Osaka robotics group Vstone which collaborated with Japan Remote Control in order to build a robotic companion that could serve as a soccer player, a nanny or anything it can be programmed to imitate.

The robot is called Tichno and stands just over four feet, proving impressive balance-related qualities. These qualities helped Tichno win last month's RoboCup Japan Open. Vstone hopes that it will be able to improve Tichno’s sports skills and calisthenics in order to wow crowds.
Vstone also claims that it’s planning the integration of voice-recognition technology in its future robot models, particularly for increasing the interaction capabilities. The Japanese company also plans to make the $5,000-a-day rental price a little more attractive. In this sense, the company is looking toward retailers and organizations that would want to pay for a Tichno as part of a marketing effort.

Future models will also take the nanny role more seriously and will be able to watch over your kids. Apparently, Tichno’s price will dramatically drop when the market will see more competing robot manufacturing companies. Chech out this demo clip to see how Tichno performs: