Hiroshi Ishiguro is a trailblazing robotics engineer whose humanoid creations mark the way to the future. As CEO of Hiroshi Ishiguro Laboratories and director of the Osaka University’s Intelligent Robotics Laboratory, Hiroshi Ishiguro blurs the lines between human and machine. His androids have helped redefine our relationship with technology and have opened up new conversations about human nature.

Hiroshi Ishiguro concentrates his work on the idea of developing robots which are as similar as possible to a live human being. At the unveiling in July 2005 of the female android named Repliee Q1Expo, he said that he realised the importance of its appearance in order to give the robot presence. Ishiguro even thinks that it may be possible to build an android that is indistinguishable from a human. In the first episode he tells you his life story and introduces us to his robots.

How to keep the quality of life in Japan, especially with the population becoming smaller and smaller? To use robot technologies more. At the moment there are two major research areas in robotics: navigation and manipulations. In 2000 prof Hiroshi started a new way of studying robotics – interactions.

Android Erica was designed and developed so she can be the first humanoid robot, accepted by many people, as she is 'almost human'. One of the most important parts to make Erica look human is her silicone skin. On top of that there is her flexibility, cameras to make her see around her, microphone areas and speakers as well, to help her understand where the person is who is trying to talk to her. And of course, there is her voice.

What is Intention and Desire for humans? That is the decision making process. To have an autonomous conversation with the Android they need to have their own decision making process. That is why we need to give intention and desire to the Android as well. How do we design that for Android? This is a very important challenge.

The subsystems to make Erica more human like we are working on are: gesture generation, attentive listening and error recovery function. Another important detail is that Erica is constantly, within one conversation, updating two important parameters; mood and likeness.

Teleoperated robots from 1999, to Avatars today, this is current work for professor Ishiguro. After Covid-19 pandemic, the concept of remote work has become a normal everyday function, and now the world is ready for Avatars in more and more everyday situations. Professor Ishiguro's twin 'brother' Gemini is a perfect example of what the future can bring and how Avatars can help us in our everyday tasks.