Robot from Japan does human speech

Robots are really big in Japan as well as South Korea, as societies in both countries tend to adopt the use of robots around the home and at work far more than other countries – or at least, that is the impression that I get judging by blog posts which we filter through each day. Just how far and closely intertwined will robots be in our lives eventually? Well, they are certainly taking big steps towards being more realistic, leading us down the Uncanny Valley road headlong at speed.

Trust the Japanese to churn out a robot which is capable of replicating human speech – yes, real human speech instead of synthesized audio. Complete with moving lips as well, now how about that? Read all more about this robot-vaganza in the extended post.

There was a bunch of robots on display at Robotech at Tokyo Big Sight, with Kagawa University’s artificial voice system robot being one of the stars there during the event. Apart from that, you can also say that this is one of the more unique looking ones, with some other people thinking it was something else at first glance instead of a robot.

The silicone mouth on this non-living entity has perfectly moving lips with a tongue that will work together to replicate human speech without the need for speakers or digital waves, helping deliver sound quality that is as close to real life as possible. Sounds like a treat? Hopefully no one comes out to programme one that nags you to complete your house chores…

Just how the heck does the silicone mouth robot work? Well, it will rely on airflow and control valves so that a human trachea and vocal chords are reproduced to a certain extent. Not only that, a resonance tube that will work in tandem with the silicone throat will further manipulate the air into distinct sounds. Both lips and tongue do their job to shape the sounds, and a microphone will help record all noises that come out of the silicone lips.