May I Introduce My Double…

Money sure can’t buy real friends, but the Japanese latest robotic revolution will allow those lonely bank accounts to purchase an exact likeness of any friend (or themselves) in the form of an android! It’s been less than a century since Fritz Lang flirted with the idea of a robotic clone in the movie Metropolis, but leave it to the Japanese to bring the vision to flesh, literally, and to the mass market.

Kokoro, a Osaki city based robotic research-development company, has had previous success launching realistic humanoids as attractive department store receptionists. Lest the image of C-3PO from Star Wars persist, the company will create the robot out of silicone with the same facial structure, body shape, hair and eyes of the original person. Even facial expressions, upper body movement and speech pattern will be modeled on those of the buyer.

While it might take awhile for this new race of robots to migrate stateside – after all their mobility are limited only to their upper bodies – Japanese chain department stores like Seibu, Sogo, Robinsons are making them available come new year. For 20.1million yens – just slightly under $250,000, the store are anticipating a necessary lottery draw to determine the lucky customers, as retailers are limited to sales of only two androids at the moment, a la Adam and Eve. We’re looking forward to at least halving our office hours in the near future.

Read the full story {Daily Mail}