Robothespian takes the stage

The uncanny valley is getting crowded. A female-modeled version of Geminoid, roboticist Hiroshi Ishiguro’s creepy android, is now appearing opposite a human actor in Japan in a short play entitled Sayonara Humanity.

Geminoid’s costar, Bryerly Long, says she feels alone on the stage�but I wonder whether that’s a problem, really�and if it is, whether the problem is Geminoid’s, or Bryerly’s. Japan has a long tradition of treating puppetry as a high art, and Geminoid�not an autonomous robot, but an electronic mannikin controlled from offstage�might be seen as an extension of that tradition. In a sense, the robot invasion started a long time ago.

[via PopSci.com]