Meinü robot
Encyclopedia
A Meinü robot is a Chinese gynoid
model which was reported on in Chinese news sources in 2006. In Mandarin, Měinǚ Jīqìrén 美女机器人 literally means "beautiful-woman robot" and is officially translated "beauty robot". The first Meinü was later named Miss Rong Cheng.
The unit is capable of locomotion, using visual navigation to avoid obstacles, speech recognition
, emotion recognition (whether audio or gestural
is not stated), and speaking. The languages it uses are English, Mandarin
and Sichuan dialect
. It can tell jokes, sing songs, etc. It is intended for tour-guide applications, businesses and hotels, advertising, and possibly for TV-show hosting.
Rong Cheng was sent to the Sichuan Science and Technology Museum
to be a receptionist or tour guide. The build cost was approximately 300,000 yuan ($37,500), but the inventors expect this can be reduced to a third of that if 100 are to be produced. Only one year of research was required to produce it, which suggests it builds on other projects.
It was worked on by 10 researchers from the Robot Research Center at the Institute of Automation
of the Chinese Academy of Sciences
, but it is very difficult to locate their academic papers. ChinaDaily's English edition named the principal designer as Li Chengrong, whereas Reuters and Sina English said it was Yue Hongqiang.
Gynoid
A gynoid is anything which resembles or pertains to the female human form. It is also used in American English medical terminology as a shortening of the term Gynecoid ....
model which was reported on in Chinese news sources in 2006. In Mandarin, Měinǚ Jīqìrén 美女机器人 literally means "beautiful-woman robot" and is officially translated "beauty robot". The first Meinü was later named Miss Rong Cheng.
The unit is capable of locomotion, using visual navigation to avoid obstacles, speech recognition
Speech recognition
Speech recognition converts spoken words to text. The term "voice recognition" is sometimes used to refer to recognition systems that must be trained to a particular speaker—as is the case for most desktop recognition software...
, emotion recognition (whether audio or gestural
Gesture recognition
Gesture recognition is a topic in computer science and language technology with the goal of interpreting human gestures via mathematical algorithms. Gestures can originate from any bodily motion or state but commonly originate from the face or hand. Current focuses in the field include emotion...
is not stated), and speaking. The languages it uses are English, Mandarin
Standard Mandarin
Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Chinese, also known as Mandarin or Putonghua, is the official language of the People's Republic of China and Republic of China , and is one of the four official languages of Singapore....
and Sichuan dialect
Sichuan dialect
Sichuanese Mandarin , commonly known as Sichuanese, Szechuanese or Szechwanese , is a branch of Southwestern Mandarin, spoken mainly in Sichuan and Chongqing, which was part of Sichuan until 1997, and the adjacent regions of their neighboring provinces, such as Hubei, Guizhou, Yunnan, Hunan and...
. It can tell jokes, sing songs, etc. It is intended for tour-guide applications, businesses and hotels, advertising, and possibly for TV-show hosting.
Rong Cheng was sent to the Sichuan Science and Technology Museum
Sichuan Science and Technology Museum
Sichuan Science and Technology Museum is a museum about science and technology in Sichuan. It was the Sichuan Provincial Exhibition Hall until 2006. The museum includes airplanes, flying saucers, 3D movies, robots and interactive model rockets....
to be a receptionist or tour guide. The build cost was approximately 300,000 yuan ($37,500), but the inventors expect this can be reduced to a third of that if 100 are to be produced. Only one year of research was required to produce it, which suggests it builds on other projects.
It was worked on by 10 researchers from the Robot Research Center at the Institute of Automation
Institute of Automation
The Institute of Automation is a research lab belonging to the Chinese Academy of Sciences which researches robotics....
of the Chinese Academy of Sciences
Chinese Academy of Sciences
The Chinese Academy of Sciences , formerly known as Academia Sinica, is the national academy for the natural sciences of the People's Republic of China. It is an institution of the State Council of China. It is headquartered in Beijing, with institutes all over the People's Republic of China...
, but it is very difficult to locate their academic papers. ChinaDaily's English edition named the principal designer as Li Chengrong, whereas Reuters and Sina English said it was Yue Hongqiang.
See also
- Actroid (a Japanese gynoid)
- EveR2-Muse (a Korean gynoid)
- Dion (a more well-known but reportedly less-capable Chinese gynoid)