AsianScientist (Dec. 20, 2013) – Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Koichi Wakata and robot astronaut Kirobo have conducted the first conversation between a human and a robot in outer space.
The conversation represents the latest development in the KIBO ROBOT PROJECT, a joint research project being carried out by Dentsu Inc and JAXA.
Extract from the conversation experiment (translation):
Wakata: How did you get out here into space, Kirobo?
Kirobo: On a Kounotori* from Tanegashima.
Wakata: Oh, so you flew all the way into space on a bird?
Kirobo: It wasn’t a bird, it was the Kounotori rocket.
Wakata: It’s incredible that you came here all by yourself.
Kirobo: Well, I’m a robot!
*Kounotori is the Japanese word for “white stork” and is also the name of the H-II Transfer Vehicle used with the H-IIB Launch Vehicle.
Kirobo, known affectionately as Kibo, flew into outer space on August 4 aboard the H-IIB Launch Vehicle No. 4. The spacecraft was launched from the Tanegashima Space Center in Japan, and Kibo arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) on August 10.
On August 21, Kibo said the first words from the ISS, which was captured in video footage.
Further conversations will be held in future, and all conversation logs will be recorded. According to Dentsu Inc, the aim of the project is to explore the coexistence of people and robots, as well as the future deployment of communication robots in outer space.
The project is also supported by the University of Tokyo’s Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, ROBO GARAGE Co., Ltd. and Toyota Motor Corporation.
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Source: KIBO ROBOT PROJECT.
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