Thanks to Engadget for the tip on this story. Kind of funky. Kind of scary.
The mannequin moving in the store window is no longer a fantasy. A Japanese firm has developed a mannequin robot that can strike a pose for customers - and spy on who they are and what they're buying."Mannequins have been static but this will pose for the nearest person by sensing his or her position," robot designer Tatsuya Matsui told a news conference.
"It makes the product the mannequin wears look more attractive, increasing consumers' appetite to buy," said Matsui, who heads Flower Robotics Inc.
The female robot, code-named Palette, can draw inspiration from the world's most beautiful women, using motion-capture technology to replay the movements of supermodels.
But Palette will double up as an industrial spy, with the maker planning to program it to judge the age and sex of shoppers and even identify the bags they are carrying and pass along the information to stores for marketing purposes.
Link: Robot mannequins strike a pose | TECHNOLOGY | NEWS | tvnz.co.nz .
Link: Flower Robotics Inc.’s Palette robo-mannequin - Engadget -www.engadget.com.
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