The Fashion Robot
It might have the diet of a model — and at 95 lb. (43
kg), the weight — but at 5 ft. 2 in. (1.6 m), the HRP-4C
robot model lacks the height of the Giseles and Naomis of
catwalk fame. That didn't stop the HRP-4C from making its
debut in March, modeling a wedding dress by designer Yumi
Katsura on its black-and-silver frame. Researchers at Japan's
National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology
developed the $2 million HRP-4C, which is equipped with doelike
eyes and shoulder-length hair, as well as sound-recognition
sensors and motors in her face to mimic human expressions.
But with the HRP-4C's unusually long arms, rigid gait and
expected price of about $200,000, flesh-and-blood models needn't
worry about losing their jobs to futuristic fashionistas quite
yet.
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