Drei Meister der Musik (und Soka-Gakkai Buddhisten) bereisen seit gestern Japan in Sachen Frieden. Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter und Carlos Santana sind von 27. Juli bis 02. August auf der "Emissaries for Peace Concert Tour", hier die Termine/Orte, wer grad' in Japan ist:

27.07. Yokohama Arena/Yokohama
29.07. Nagasaki Brick Hall/Nagasaki
31.07. Osaka Festival Hall/Osaka
01.08. Osaka Festival Hall/Osaka
02.08. Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park/Hiroshima

"At this particular time, I'm especially excited about making a presentation for peace along with two dear friends of mine - Carlos Santana and Wayne Shorter -- who have the same passion for spreading the human spirit of peace and happiness," said Herbie Hancock. "I look forward to the opportunity to bring the magic of creativity through the contact of one human heart to another." mehr...

Roboterfrau ReplieeQ1

ReplieeQ1 mit ihrem Erzeuger Professor Ishiguro: "Wir haben herausgefunden, dass die Leute vergessen, dass sie ein Android ist wenn sie mit ihr zugange sind." Sie hat eine Silikonhaut, kann mit den Wimpern klimpern, sie scheint sogar zu atmen, ob sie mir auch Henning Mankell Romane vorlesen kann?

Designed to look human
Before Repliee Q1, Professor Ishiguro developed Repliee R1 which had the appearance of a five-year-old Japanese girl. Its head could move in nine directions and it could gesture with its arm. Four high-sensitivity tactile sensors were placed under the skin of its left arm that made the android react differently to differing pressures.The follow-up has the appearance of a Japanese woman. To program her motion, a computer analysed the motions of a human and used them as a template for the way Repliee Q1 moves. She can be designed to follow the movement of a human wearing motion sensors or to act independently. "Repliee Q1 can interact with people. It can respond to people touching it. It's very satisfying, although we obviously have a long way to go yet." Professor Ishiguro believes that it may prove possible to build an android that could pass for a human, if only for a brief period. "An android could get away with it for a short time, 5-10 seconds. However, if we carefully select the situation, we could extend that, to perhaps 10 minutes," he said. "More importantly, we have found that people forget she is an android while interacting with her. Consciously, it is easy to see that she is an android, but unconsciously, we react to the android as if she were a woman."