Static and passive mannequins are a thing of the past in Japan, at least for one department store that is.
Though a lot of stores have been using real life models as their mannequins to attract buyers to their store, what separates this shop is that they use inanimate objects and make them move. Sounds creepy right? Well, at first we might say that but in this robotic country and where technology is being developed in a rapid rate, I certainly doubt it if people would be fazed with such an invention.
This real-life Android is the creation of Dr. Hiroshi Ishiguro. He is the man behind Geminoid robots at the Osaka University Intelligent Robotics laboratory. Together with individuals from a department store in Tokyo, they designed to give a mannequin a lift that it truly deserves.
The team came up with a robotic mannequin that is eerily humanlike. It is displayed at the stores window. It can smile, nod and shuffle a bit in her chair. What’s good about it is that she can interact with people in her surroundings. She even yawns as she dutifully awaits shoppers to come close to her. It is capable of 60 facial expressions and can even have moods.
Well, this could be one excellent gimmickry that can boost the stores sales.
Image source: digitaltrends.com
