No monkey business: Primate ignores swooning robot
November 2, 1997
Web posted at: 1:38 p.m. EST (1838 GMT)
TOKYO (CNN) -- Japanese scientists failed in their quest to
get a monkey to interact with a shiny metal robot in what
could be described as nothing more than a bad blind date.
Researchers at Waseda University had hoped the two would
mingle, proving that robots bear mammal-like qualities.
But the 10-year-old-male monkey, named Choromatsu, paid
little attention Saturday to the swooning robot, whose flashy
metallic eyelashes and bulging synthetic eyeballs failed to
charm.
Choromatsu sat with a scowl through most of the session,
often staring at the ceiling or looking at researchers and
photographers gathered in the room.
The robot, known as Hadaly 2, had no immediate comment.