
(Image source: Ubergizmo) BY STEVEN SPARKMAN ANCHOR ANA COMPAIN-ROMERO Unless you're a fan of dental drilling injuries, you can probably understand the need for extensive training for beginning dentists. And -- for the sake of learning --drilling on someone -- or something -- that can't sue them. Well, a Japanese robot manufacturer has built a roboticpatient, and it's just life-like enough... it's almost disturbing. "Showa University has announced Showa Hanako 2, a robot dental patient, fabricated by robot-maker Tmsuk." (Robot chats with dentist) "Among the robot's autonomous actions, it can blink, roll its eyes, sneeze, shake its head, cough, move its tongue, and get tired of keeping its mouth open." (Video source: DigInfo TV) Hanako 2 boasts several upgrades over the last model. For one thing, its skin is more realistic and its mouth is watertight. But-- the robotics company needed a little extra help creating those features. Wired tells us where they found it. "So where do you get a realistic looking female face? Why, the sex toy industry, of course! Showa worked with Orient Industry, a noted maker of Japanese love dolls, to create a silicon mug with a mouth lining and a motor-driven tongue." The developers said they want studentsworking with Hanako 2 to capture the "tension" of working with a real patient. So beyond gagging and getting fidgety, New Scientist says the robot will also remember the dentist's every slip up. "... Hanako's virtues are not only skin-deep <b>...</b>
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