Perhaps more of an Engadget feature (I’m filing this under “gear”), but I couldn’t resist. It is
certainly
something right out of a Philip K. Dick novel. The Repliee Q1 is an “adult type android” that may prompt you to
immediately get your hands on a Voight-Kampff test
machine (“Is this testing whether I’m an android, or a lesbian, Mr. Decker?”)
The designers of the Repilee have “upgraded” their newest model to reproduce humanlike motion, giving her…um, it…41
degrees of freedom. The joints are controlled by “air actuators”, and the skin is made of silicone, creating a “touch”
that is very humanlike. Sensors are built into the brow, cheeks, shoulders, upper arms, forearms, and palms, so that
the android can respond in various ways depending on how it is touched (man, does it get any MORE creepy?).