Interview with Yoshiaki Sakagami, a chief engineer at Honda who managed development of the new Asimo robot's recognition abilities. Asimo is described on the Honda robots website as an "intelligent humanoid robot capable of interpreting the postures and gestures of humans and moving independently in response."
Sakagami describes it as a "multifunctional machine to enrich human life," and believes 'bots should serve as "life assistants" for humans. Excerpt:
"Currently, Asimo is simply accepted as a 'cute' robot–not as a practical one. Our next goal is how to bridge the distance between robots and human beings."
For the next step of Asimo's development, Sakagami thinks Honda will have to study how the human brain works. Within a few years, Asimo will become much closer to human beings, having more "intelligence."
Does this mean that the border line between robots and human beings will disappear? "I don't think robots will replace human beings. It occurs only in movies."
