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RoboThespian - Robot Comedian Wants Louis CK's Job

RoboThespian is now in his third generation and has been developing his skills for six years.


(Robot comedian - RoboComic? - at work)

Modern life is defined by humanity's love-hate relationship with its own technological creations. It's in our nature to see life, personality and intention where none exists. RoboThespian™ exploits this desire; it is an anthropomorphic machine, a dot on the graph that starts with automata, and will end when we are no longer able to distinguish the living from the mechanised.

RoboThespian™ combines the appeal of a sophisticated entertainment package with the capabilities of a versatile research platform. It comes with standard content, like greetings and impressions, to which you can add your own recorded sequences or bespoke content. With a web based interface files controlling movement, sound and video can be simply uploaded. RoboThespian™ was designed from the outset as a flexible communication medium.

RoboThespian offers many cool features:

• Smooth and versatile facial animations generated in real time.
• Voice recognition.
• Speech synthesis in more than twenty languages.
• Simple gesture recognition and person tracking.
• Simple browser based programming interface.
• All electric design for simple installation.
• Optional RFID tags to identify users by name.

In his 1951 short story The Jester, William Tenn introduces sf audiences to the idea of a robot comedian:

"You changed his shape!" Lester yelped accusingly, "I sent you a smooth-lined twenty-two hundred and seven model with the cylindrical trunk. You bring back a pear-shaped piece of machinery looking like a wadjacallit - as if it had a paunch all the way around!"

"Look, sir, the techs just had to expand his midsection. Even on microwire that file of jokes took up a lot of space... More space, more weight. But let me turn him on..."
(Read more about William Tenn's robot comedian)

From RoboThespian

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