Robot pops into studio for acting debut
Cartoon show uses Sony's humanoid Qrio for voiceover
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Standing in front of a monitor TV and a microphone, Sony's humanoid robot delivers lines for an episode of "Astro Boy."
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Take a look at Sony's robots. They not only walk, they dance -- Japanese style.
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TOKYO, Japan (AP) -- Sony Corp.'s toddler-shaped robot waddled into a Tokyo recording studio Thursday to dub a voice part for a popular television cartoon show, where the talking, dancing machine makes a cameo appearance.
Surrounded by a pack of photographers, the 58-centimer-tall (23-inch-tall) silver robot with glowing eyes walked slowly up to a microphone, stopped, waved and muttered, "All this attention is making me nervous."
Sony's humanoid robot, called Qrio, uses software that changes text into an electronic voice. It took up its new challenge with gusto, delivering a couple of lines for an episode of "Astro Boy," a weekly TV show from Sony Pictures Entertainment, set to start airing in the United States Saturday.
In one scene, an animation version of Qrio tells a story to a group of children sitting under a tree.
As the scene played on a monitor in the studio, the robot said on cue in a squeaky voice, "At last the young man fell under a spell. But he could not give up."
Qrio, which stands for "quest for curiosity," isn't for sale but works as "an ambassador" for the Tokyo-based electronics and entertainment giant, performing at exhibitions and playing master of ceremonies at events.
Sony senior manager Yuichi Hattori said Qrio's appearance in Astro Boy is a fine example of "synergy," the dynamic boost Sony has promised -- but hasn't always delivered -- when the company's divisions work together and enhance each other to produce more than a sum of its parts.
"It's synergy. Qrio is designed to introduce Sony technology. And Sony Pictures is part of that effort," he said.
Hattori acknowledged the robot wasn't really responding to the director's commands but being controlled from a booth by wireless LAN, or local area network, to utter preprogrammed lines.
At its debut as a voiceover actor, the robot earnestly displayed its array of talent. When asked to say the lines with more musical feeling, it started singing. When told to say them more quickly, he blurted the lines like a tongue-twister.
Miki Maruyama, 16, an actress who used a microphone next to the robot's to do the children's voices, was impressed.
"I couldn't believe it was a robot. It said the lines better than me," she said.
"Astro Boy" is based on a 1950s comic book series by Osamu Tezuka which became a hit TV show in Japan. A generation of Japanese has grown up on Astro Boy, a robot with a heart of a little boy. The latest remake began airing here last year.
"Our message is that robots are our partners," said Kazuya Konaka, the show's director. "This has demonstrated that robots and human beings can work together."
At the very least, Sony, which is carrying out cost cuts to turn around its business, is saving money: Qrio works for free.
Copyright 2004 The
Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
