Creepy Wall-mounted Robot Tracks Your Movements

G.I.A. (Gestural Interactive Automation) is your new creepy robot friend. Created by Daniel Jay Bertner, the GIA robot sculpture is anchored to a wall and tracks you around the room, using motion tracking software. It also uses facial recognition technology to interact with you and, worse yet, projects a video image of a human face on a sphere that responds with facial expressions.

When you enter GIA’s room, it tracks your movements and appears to be watching and following you from its perch… ready to strike? The projected facial video changes expression based on gestures or reactions it picks up from the audience.

Check out the video to see GIA in action.

Robotic Hair Dresser Coming Soon

Panasonic is really branching out with their robotics efforts these days. Their latest development? A robot that washes, massages and blow-dries a user’s hair, the Daily Mail reports.

The robot is being tested in Japan before it’s available for commercial use. And though it was originally developed for the elderly and disabled, it might stop cropping up in hair salons.

Panasonic’s new Head Care Robot has 24 “fingers” that massage a person’s head, which supposedly beats the whole head-massage-from-a-human experience. Each user can customers his or her shampooing experience, and the robot has specially-placed nozzles for rinsing longer hair. It even mists the hair with conditioner to ensure an even coat.

So will people feel comfortable using a robotic hair dresser? Well, Panasonic says the massage portion of the wash is “extremely relaxing.” And not at all creepy. They swear.

13-foot-tall Robot in Development in Japan

Imagine a robot whose legs alone are taller than you. Sure, it sounds like the stuff of science fiction; but soon, a 13-foot-tall robot might be a reality.

Hajime Sakamoto, the president of the Hajime Research Institute in Osaka, Japan, has a dream to build a 13-foot robot that would include a built-in cockpit for humans. (I'm picturing the worker-bots from Avatar.) Sakamoto is currently looking for contractors and sponsors to help him with the project.

Although this will be his largest robot to date, Sakamoto is a robotics veteran. (Check out the video to see him piloting his 7-foot-tall Hajime 33 robot, which can walk, bow and play soccer.) In fact, he's already looking beyond his current project to the awe-inspiring ideas of 26- and 59-foot robots.

How Dangerous is it That Iran Has U.S. Drone?

Image credit: CNN.com

Iran has politely declined the White House’s request to return its downed drone, and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said today that his people have been able to "control" the device. With this sophisticated technology in Iran’s hands, what does this mistake mean for the U.S.?

First of all, it’s unclear how intact the RQ-170 drone was after its crash. Some experts have questioned the authenticity of photos and video of the UAV, speculating that Iran may have “mocked up” the drone pictured above.

However, if Iran truly does have the drone -- and it is in working condition -- many fear that the hostile nation could learn much about U.S. spying strategies and technology. Even if Iran doesn't use this information itself, it could easily be sold to China or Russia -- or any other nation that might find it useful. If nothing else, the incident has embarrassingly revealed the underlying secrecy of expanded U.S. operations against Iran's nuclear and military programs.

Ahmadinejad is claiming that his country can learn a lot from the captured technology. Meanwhile, certain UAV experts doubt they will be able to glean its secrets.

More likely, Iran will simply use this incident for political posturing. Ahmadinejad took the opportunity to brag about his country's existing UAV knowledge and technology:

"There are people here who have been able to control this spy plane," Ahmadinejad told VTV. "Those who have been in control of this spy plane surely will analyze the plane's system. Furthermore, the systems of Iran are so advanced also, like the system of this plane."

After President Obama requested the drone be returned, state media jumped at the chance to mock the U.S. for being in the role of "the begger."

And what of the whole "spying" issue? Officially, the drone was conducting surveillance over Afghanistan, malfunctioned and crashed onto Iranian soil (140 miles from the Afghan border...). But Iran -- and, OK, certain Americans -- don't buy it. Now that the U.S. has its largest-ever fleet of UAVs, I wouldn't doubt for a second that we conduct surveillance on Iran, especially amid suspicions over their nuclear development program.

Iran isn't about to let the incident go: Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said the United States owes Iran an apology and needs to admit its crime.

Meanwhile, another U.S. drone reportedly crashed in Seychelles on Tuesday, causing this blogger to wonder who, exactly, is piloting these unmanned drones?

Incredible Video: Robot Recognizes Itself in a Mirror

"Oh, this is me. Nice."

So says Qbo, an adorable robot created by Thecorpora, as it recognizes itself in the mirror for the first time.

According to the company's Qbo blog, the "quite simple experiment touches interesting psychological aspects of self-consciousness." After all, only humans and a select number of animals are self-aware enough to recognize themselves in a mirror.

And, isn't self-awareness a major milestone of the Singularity? If Qbo weren't so cute, I'd be scared.