President Obama recently attended the Tokyo Miraikan Science Expo during his visit to Japan, and he was given quite the reception by one individual: Honda’s ASIMO humanoid robot.
ASIMO has been in production since early 2000, though its movements were significantly more choppy when the robot was first showcased back then. Now, ASIMO is capable of doing a handful of new actions, including running quickly, jumping, and even kicking a soccer ball – with President Obama, of course.
In a press conference after the meeting, the president describes the robots as “truly amazing,” though “a little scary” for being “too lifelike.” While ASIMO is exciting, I think I’ll have to agree with the President on this one; I don’t know how I feel yet about our increasing proximity to the singularity.
You can view Obama’s remarks in their entirety in the video below.
