Just a Thought: BJD Persocoms?

I actually have a concept idea relating to BJDs and persocoms in my own little fiction world called Autonnes. (Portmanteau of automate/automatic and personne/person.) Using revolutionary technology involving holograms and AI, mannequin-like androids have the ability to be customized to the user's heart's contents, while using a typical sculpt as a template of sorts. They are nearly indistinguishable from actual humans, aside from a logo branded on the underside of their tongues. Defective girlcoms and guycoms have the option to go to Autonne academies in order to correct their flaws, and their physical flaws and injuries can be fixed via Autonne doctors. (Kind of like Volks' Doctor.)

BJD persocoms... that would be quite interesting Of course, it would definitely be controversial, as there would definitely be critics going, "robots are ruining our society and way of life," "we shouldn't be playing god," and other stuff like that. That being said, they would most likely reach such hype if they were mass-produced via factory. If they still pertained typical BJD aspects, like the ability to buy them in parts or in do-it-yourself kits and customization, then that would certainly be peachy keen. ^^ I'd absolutely love a small MSD-sized or tiny-sized doll as a smart phone, with various accessories to it such as that screen thing that Sumomo has in Chobits.

 

That sounds really fascinating, actually! Like stick come kind of Siri technology in a BJD and watch the fun. xD Sounds great. That would truly make the dolls even more lifelike.

 

I think this would be intriguing, especially if you could really personalize the programming of the personality and the functions.

I definitely would not tolerate a situation as in some science fiction stories, where the robot (analogy for a persocom) is intrusive or downright irritating, such as C-3PO in Star Wars. I would have had him reprogrammed a LONG time before he got a chance to be that big of a pain.

But a personal assistant/companion, and by companion, I mean more than just a doll I move around, someone with whom I could hold coversations, and perhaps even teach things. Since I use my doll collection as characters in stories I write, it might be handy to have several persocoms, and then be able to have them help me even more by assuming the personality of my characters, so that every time I "got stuck" in a scene or whatever, I could then have them help by "acting through" whatever it was blocking me.

I am only sorry this does not exist already!

 

[video]http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/...[/video]

http://www.projectaiko.com/

This is creepy!

 

I actually think that's a neat concept. it also manages to remind me of Angelic Layer which was also done by clamp (supposedly in the same universe as Chobbits. I dunno there's a whole thing about those two Anime's being connected lol) it could be a neat idea, having a BJD that's not only asthetically pretty, but also useful as a personal computer to some degree. to be honest I don't know if I'd want that. on the one hand it seems kind of neat. on the other it might be a bit weird. what if you got attached to their personality and then they grew obsolete and started malfunctioning. it would be like the death of a pet.

 

The whole reason I got my 1/6 scale doll was to make a Sumomo from the Chobits show. I plan on getting a flash drive and sculpting a custom head cap with holes for the USB port. I have made a custom harness for her to sit on my shoulder even. I know that she won't be able to move, but I know of a puppetry place that makes custom animatronics within a thin cable(I have a griffin puppet from them) that controls limited motion and I hope that they can retrofit her head to look around.

 

Just sayin'... it starts out with basic robotics in a garage with a doll, it end in a mass million dollar company ^.^

 

Robots are fascinating; animatronic -toys- amuse and interest me, but I wouldn't have that alteration done. It takes more than just a microchip to get these creatures going. The internal processors and range-of-motion mechanisms can be difficult to work with and in the cases of dolls can make a doll not only heavy, but in many cases far more fragile and sometimes unstable.

In the 1980s, these types of dolls were already on the rise. We had Julie, who was created by the same people in Alchemy II that created Teddy Ruxpin. Julie was an "interactive doll" with technology that allowed her to react with some pre-programmed responses. She could read storybooks with finger sensors and responded to light/dark, and special key words. Her innards are much like many of the talking toys: a robotic frame.

And then there was Mattel's bomb: Baby Heather, another product of the eighties that didn't last very long due to its expense: http://articles.latimes.com/1987-11-22/business/fi-23977_1_toy-makers -Check out the article that's been archived about the 80s techno-toys boom. She is pretty much what you described in your posts. That was in the eighties. The main problem with her was that the animatronics in her head and neck were so heavy that her body could not support them. Her head was secured on in connection to the neck mechanism and many owners saw their beloved friend become decapitated.

About Baby Heather:
http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/baby-heather-mattel-1987-grow-heather-112531719
-- This was a listing by someone who tried to sell her. It goes over basic functions.

There's actually not much about her on the internet and I stumbled across her when I was researching someone to fix my Teddy Ruxpin. He's my favorite babysitting tool ^_^;;... And admittedly, I'm sentimental about the furry animatronic bear. He was a good friend when I was little and lonely because we moved so frequently. And since I like animatronics, he's fun to have around in his current functioning state alongside Grubby.

I'm not a fan of animatronic/robotic dolls, but if it looks like an animal or a creature, I'd be likely to bring it into my home. I tend to like robotic things. Of course, I'm also fascinated by automatons, which was an earlier form of robotics: clockwork creations that could sing, dance, and do a variety of other things. If you give me a book on them, I'll read it. If you give me a fiction piece, I'll devour it. I like anything having to do with clockwork creations or animatronics.

However, despite the fact that I like seeing what makes things tick and learning/enjoying a good book about them...

I -so- wouldn't do that to my boys. ...*Shudders.* If they could be autonomous movers, I'd be moving in a different direction. Far, far away from them. I'm not fond of dolls. I hate them. My boys are the only dolls I've ever had that haven't given me the willies.

Then again...

... All I'd need is to jack them up with some nice pneumatics and some complicated circuitry...

*snickers.*Nah.

Heck, no.

 

I absolutely love this idea! but I don't know how possible it would be, I think the dolls might end up being kinda hefty too? siigh if only right? Maybe one day they will! I mean they do make robotic dolls which respond and talk, and even have sensors, but it's someone actually thinking to put that kinda thing into a BJD I think if it's possible, it'll be quite the few years off from now.

 

Sounds like an interesting concept- though I will admit, part of the enjoyment I get out of my doll is in posing it for shots and whatnot, though I suppose it would be possible with such technology as what you mentioned to give a voice command and have the doll go into the pose on its own. (It would probably help a LOT with getting them to stay still as well). Only one issue I can think of off the top of my head- water shots.

 

I usually dislike toys that move on their own or talk. I used to be scared to death of my Furby... I couldn't figure out how to make it stop jabbering at me and flapping its ears... I also don't like loud pets, like dogs. Or, really, anything that makes much noise.

I like my dolls for the "quiet time" they give me-- I pose them, I dress them, they're entirely in my control and will never, ever complain about what I put on them. I move them myself. They're thinking whatever I say they're thinking. They're entirely under my control, and I like that.

 

it would make them not a doll anymore, and think of how horrid it would be for the doll if it found out you didn't want them anymore. It's a dangerous idea

 

I think it'd be cool and interesting. I don't think I'd like ALL of my dolls like that, I like that I can pose them and stuff, but maybe one or two that could talk and move on their own, yes~ I think I'd like that hahaha~

 

that and she is crosseyed

 

That would be amazing! Having a little PDA BJD to tote around. I think it would be really neat and useful, but then a lot more people would get into the BJD hobby. And then I would have hipster-syndrome ("I liked them before they were cool!").

 

I've actually seen a BJD that can walk and strum a guitar so the robotics part is already possible, but I would love to have a "persocom" type BJD that I could have conversations with and would remind me of things such as Siri does on my iPhone 4S. I don't think I would like it if they could move though, I think that would just be a bit unnecessary (not to mention a little freaky).

 

If you were to make such a thing I would totally be your first purchaser because I love all things artificially intelligent. It has actually become my dream to make something like a persocom since I was very young, so I'm very attracted to your idea!

 

This is an interesting idea. I've read the first half of Chobits (found one of those manga that hold several issues), and since then, I thought it would be amazing to have such devices.

I don't think that this can happen in the next couple of years, but maybe, in a decade or so? It's definitely not too far off, and I do believe that we will at least in our lifetimes. The price would be ridiculous, but isn't everything these days?

 

I think when it got to that point it definitely couldn't be categorized as a doll anymore--it'd be a robot. However, I'd love to have a 'persocom' that was based on a BJD, as in, following the same aesthetic and it could be easily customized (eyes, hair, etc.). I think it would be quite amazing to be able to customize your computer so easily--you could literally give it a personality. (and I'm assuming that the theoretical persocoms are not like Chi and don't have AI, cuz then things get complicated ethically and emotionally).

 

After reading what ya'll have to say it would seem that most have the heebie jeebies when it comes the idea of electronic BJD's having AI. I don't blame you there. To many evil doll movies set us up for that. I had a furbie that I swear is possessed. It moved a few times when there were no batteries in it and it was switched off.

But it would be cool to have a BJD with smartphone capabilities with voice activation. Like You could say "Select Calender, Record new appointment." or "Add new contact." And then it could store infp from a pc like a flash drive.