If Honda's experimental walking assist device design will push through, it will definitely signal a new hope for the elderly or those who have weakened leg muscles to walk again. After all, much has been devoted in this research that began back in 1999. More on this after the jump!

Honda Motor Co. has further refined its ASIMO robots. If we may say, the improvements now allow the units to perform functions that seem straight out of a science fiction movie.

This generation of robots can not work together with other ASIMOs, actively avoid people, and go back to charging stations when their battery levels drop below a certain level. More details on this can be found in the full article via the "read more" link below.

ASIMO (which is Japanese for legs, and also means Advanced Step in Innovative MObility) became the poster bot of the android world for its ability to do two-legged locomotion. ASIMO, a product of Honda Motor Company, can walk human-style on at up to 6 km/h (3.7 mph). If that was too slow to impress you, wait till you see the new, improved, and faster ASIMO. It took Honda 20 years to do it but now the bot can run - with both feet leaving the ground for .08 seconds!

Watch the video taken by achmedchalabi666 at the 2007 CES and you'll agree. He's come a long way, baby. And wherever he's heading, he'll get there a lot faster.

With the development of robots such as Asimo and Hubo, scientists were able to finally come up with a solution on how to get these bunches of metal to walk upright like a human. They have even developed the technology that allows these machines to be "aware" of their surroundings and to react to visual and auditory stimuli.

With this new technology being continually improved upon, how far are these scientists really willing to go in trying to make robots seem like real humans? Well, from looking at the selection ahead, we can probably already derive an answer.

We start off with an Einstein look-alike (or, as someone has remarked, Asimo with a face). Then we have the Actroid DER, which may possibly pass off as a Japanese actress once she is able to stand on her own. Next is the Korean (but Japanese-speaking) EveR-1 who is capable of understanding up to 400 words and making facial expressions with her pretty silicon face. In second place will be a Japanese professor's robotic clone of himself which fidgets just like the real thing and whose only purpose is to fill in for the flesh-and-bone counterpart whenever the professor feels like stepping out of the classroom that he teaches in. The top spot however, goes to Repliee Q1Expo who can probably already fill in for an actual news reporter or TV show host with the range of expressions. Mind you that the official term for these creations are no longer just "robots" but "androids".

Is it all just starting to sound like science fiction?


Click on full article to see the androids in motion...seeing is believing!

Move aside, Asimo! Your cousin not only walks but has also learned to drive!

A Korean robot by the name of Hubo (a mix of the words "humanoid" and "robot") has recently been burning rubber on his trusty Segway. Hubo's creator, Professor Oh Jun-ho of the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology said that they have picked the Segway as the means of transportation since it allows Hubo to easily maneuver in varied areas as well as narrow spaces.

The professor has also noted that Hubo's hardware is currently "good enough to travel onboard Segway and upgrading its software will be sufficient for the robot to use the scooter as it is and without modification. Software revisions will begin soon."

Oh has also added that Hubo is the first robot that has gotten on and can fully control the scooter.

Hubo is Oh's third bipedal creation and first gained fame when it greeted world leaders during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in November last year, sporting the face of Albert Einstein.

We don't know what the hell gadget makers are on these days but we sure love the things that they have been cranking out lately. Take this new technology developed by Honda and ATR Computational Neuroscience Laboratories. It allows people to control a robot's very simple moves using brain signals.

Honda demonstrated its new technology using a robotic hand. Brain signals were detected by a magnetic resonance imaging scanner which were then relayed to the robot. The sender in the MRI machine made a fist, spread his fingers and then made a V-sign movemments which the robotic hand mimicked a few seconds later. 

The technology still needs a lot of polishing to decode more complex movements and make the robotic hand as adroit as the Addam's Family's beloved Thing. The machine that reads brain patterns is also undergoing design makeovers to make it about the size and weight of a cap. That way it can be worn without hampering people's movement.

Once fully developed the technology could be used to replace keyboards or cell phones and will be invaluable to people with spinal cord injuries according to ATR researchers. Honda officials, on the other hand, said they were focusing not only on future auto technology applications, but for developing intelligence for Asimo, the company's bi-pedal robot. "At least another five years are probably needed before Asimo starts moving according to its owner's mental orders," the company said.

Surprisingly, this brain-as-remote control technology isn't new.  Honda's "brain-machine interface" is an improvement over past approaches. The also ran mind-control techs include one that requires surgically connecting wires. We can understand why that was never a hit. Another method involves training people to send brain signals without causing brain hemmorage. And still some technology just weren't very accurate in mind-reading resulting in the robotic hand flashing a birdie when it was supposed to give the peace sign.