Android (robot): Difference between revisions

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	The character ] from the television show, ], is described as being a "Mechanoid" as well as an android. This is a melding of the words "Mechanical" and "Humanoid". According to the episode "DNA", his brain is part-organic, and his ] can therefore be altered. He is also capable of breaking his programming and obtaining emotions, though this proves to be difficult as diplayed in the episode, "Camille".		The character ] from the television show, ], is described as being a "Mechanoid" as well as an android. This is a melding of the words "Mechanical" and "Humanoid". According to the episode "DNA", his brain is part-organic, and his ] can therefore be altered. He is also capable of breaking his programming and obtaining emotions, though this proves to be difficult as diplayed in the episode, "Camille".

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	== Androids in fiction ==
	Thus far, androids have remained mostly within the domain of ] and, frequently, in ] and ]. However, some "]s" exist.

	One of the earliest android characters is Otho from the ] stories of ]. Otho's construction is never discussed but he is much more human-like than his companion Grag, a mechanical ].

	]'s robot stories are mostly about androids; many are collected in '']'' (1950). They promulgated a set of rules of ethics for androids and robots (see ]) that greatly influenced other writers and thinkers in their treatment of the subject. Most of Asimov's robots appear too artificial to be mistaken for human beings, with the notable exceptions of R. Jander Panell, ] and Andrew Martin.

	Perhaps the most famous android is ], played by actor ], of the series ''Star Trek: The Next Generation'' (1987–1994) and several spin-off motion pictures; this character was largely inspired by another android character created by ] for '']''. Data's immediate 'family' – brothers ] and ] et al., daughter ], and 'mother' ] – were also androids (and the fembots are properly, though rarely, referred to as ]s) from the same creator, ].

	Earlier in '']'' (1979), the Ilia ] – a precisely duplicated biomechanical ] of ], with some of her ]s intact – was dispatched by ] to gather information about the crew of the ] '']''.

	In the TV series '']'' (2000–2005), the ] ] is an extension of ] ] ], represented by an ] of Rommie.

	In the re-imagined series '']'' (2003–), the gynoid ] is one of a (seductive) variant of the ]ic, robotic ] that is used to infiltrate the fleeing ] ] and, particularly, the mind of the scientist ].

	Androids (Jinzou Ningen in ]; meaning 'artificial human') are also a race in '']'', '']'', and '']''. The androids' names were only numbers (such as Android #13 or Android #20). They were created by Dr. Gero, Dr. Muu, and the Red Ribbon Army. Some are entirely artificial and some are created from humans and can be considered cyborgs.

	Jinzo Ningen ] was the first ] and ] series to feature an android protagonist.

	The series ] borrows Villiers' original term Realian when referring to a race of beings created by Vector Corporation. Two playable characters are androids (MOMO and KOS-MOS). One is referred to as a Realian while the second is simply an android.

	In their respective series by ], ] was initially called a "humanoid", which was then simplified to robot. ], a later version, is said to be more advanced, more independent of thought, and closer to an android. Other beings, based off his design, are called ].

	In the episode of ], '']'', with deadly versions of 20th century gameshows, there is an android host of ] called the "Anne Droid" (a pun on the name of ], the current host).

	] plays the role of an android named "the Terminator" in ] series.

	Many more examples may be found in this ].

	==References==		==References==

Revision as of 20:25, 13 September 2006

For the 1982 film, see: Android (film).

It has been suggested that Bio Android be merged into this article. (Discuss)

File:Data2.jpg

The android Data, portrayed by Brent Spiner, from the TV series Star Trek: The Next Generation

An android is a robot made to resemble a human, usually both in appearance and behavior. The word derives from the Greek andr-, " meaning "man, male", and the suffix -eides, used to mean "of the species; alike" (from eidos "species"). The word droid, a robot in the Star Wars universe, is derived from this meaning.

Android projects

There are currently (2006) a handful of android projects which have been successfully completed. The Intelligent Robotics Lab directed by Hiroshi Ishiguro at Osaka University and Kokoro Co., Ltd. have demonstrated the android Repliee Q1Expo at Expo 2005 in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. The Korea Institute for Industrial Technology (KITECH) has begun demonstrating EveR-1, an android interpersonal communications model capable of emulating human emotion via facial "musculature", and capable of rudimentary conversation having a ~400 word vocabulary. EveR-1's name derives from the Biblical Eve, plus the letter "r" for robot. This android is not bipedal, but is capable of motion from her torso up.

The Intelligent Mechatronics Lab directed by Kobayashi at The Science University of Tokyo has developed an android head called Saya, which was exhibited at Robodex 2002 in Yokohama, Japan. There are several other initiatives around the world involving humanoid research and development at this time, which will hopefully introduce a broader spectrum of realized technology in the near future.

KAIST Research Institute of Korea and Texas based Hanson Robotics, Inc. produced an android head mounted on a life-size walking bi-pedal frame at the APEC Summit in Seoul, Korea. The android, whose head was modelled after the physicist Albert Einstein, was able to speak and use a range of facial expressions.

Usage and distinctions

Unlike the terms robot (a "mechanical" being) and cyborg (a being that is partly organic and partly mechanical), the word android has been used in literature and other media to denote several different kinds of artificially constructed beings:

a robot that closely resembles a human
a cyborg that closely resembles a human
an artificially created, yet primarily organic, being that closely resembles a human. Also refered to in many series (mostly anime) as Bio Android

Although human morphology is not necessarily the ideal form for working robots, the fascination in developing robots that can mimic it can be found historically in the assimilation of two concepts: simulacra (devices that exhibit likeness) and automata (devices that have independence).

The term android was first used by the French author Auguste Villiers de l'Isle-Adam (1838-1889) in his work Tomorrow's Eve, featuring an artificial human-like robot named Hadaly. As said by the officer in the story, "In this age of Realien advancement, who knows what goes on in the mind of those responsible for these mechanical dolls."

Although Karel Čapek's robots in R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots) (1921)—the play that introduced the word "robot" to the world—were organic artificial humans, the word robot has come to primarily refer to mechanical humans, animals, and other beings. The term android can mean either one of these, while a cyborg ("cybernetic organism" or "bionic man") would be a creature that is a combination of organic and mechanical parts.

In the semantic sense, the word "android" is a misnomer. The intended meaning is "an artificial human being like being" while the literal translation is "like a male being." The word andros has definite meaning of "male human being" in Greek, while the word man can mean either "male human being" or "human being in general." The gender-neutral word for human being in Greek is anthropos, and the correct word for an artificial human being-like automaton would be anthropoid.

Ambiguity

Historically, science fiction authors have used "android" in a greater diversity of ways than the terms "robot" and "cyborg". In some fiction works, the primary difference between a robot and android is only skin-deep, with androids being made to look almost exactly like humans on the outside, but with internal mechanics exactly the same as that of robots. In other stories, authors have defined android to indicate a wholly organic, yet artificial, creation. Other definitions of android fall somewhere in between.

The character Data, from the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation, is described as an android. Data became intoxicated in an early episode ("The Naked Now") and is later referred to having "bioplast sheeting" for skin ("The Most Toys"), perhaps suggesting that he was initially intended by the writers to be at least partially organic. Otherwise, Data was shown to be mechanical throughout and this often became a central plot theme.

The Replicants from the movie Blade Runner were bioengineered organic beings. While they were not referred to as either robots or androids in the movie, the screenplay was originally based on a novel by Philip K. Dick called Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

In the video game Beneath a Steel Sky, genetically engineered androids similar to Blade Runner's Replicants are a central plot theme. However, despite their organic makeup, their behavior is programmed by computer.

The robots of Čapek's R.U.R. were organic in nature. Today, an author writing a similar story might very well be inclined to call them androids.

The character Ash in the movie Alien, another artificial organic being, is often referred to as an android (though not in the dialogue of the movie itself). Similarly, the character Bishop in Aliens and Alien³ is a more advanced android commonly called a Synthetic, but prefers to be called an "artificial person". Much later in the series timeline, the character Call in Alien Resurrection is ashamed of being an android.

C-3PO and R2-D2 from the Star Wars movies are referred to as droids. While C-3PO could reasonably be called an android because he is humanoid in appearance, the squat cylinder R2-D2 is only humanoid in behavior.

In the movie A.I., the robotic characters are called mechas, but the film is loosely based on a short story written by Brian Aldiss called "Supertoys Last All Summer Long", in which the central character David is called an android (by which Aldiss seemed to be referring to an organic creation).

In the anime/manga Chobits, Androids are known as "Persocoms", essentially computers in a man-made body. The series does not go into their internal composition, but it is assumed to be artificial with a very realistic outside. One of the key points of this series was a special type of persocom named "Chobit", a persocom that had free will and the ability to fall in love and have emotions.

The Cylon race in the reimagined Battlestar Galactica series includes twelve android models that are virtually indistinguishable from human beings, even possessing blood, tears, internal organs, and functioning reproductive systems.

The character Kryten from the television show, Red Dwarf, is described as being a "Mechanoid" as well as an android. This is a melding of the words "Mechanical" and "Humanoid". According to the episode "DNA", his brain is part-organic, and his DNA can therefore be altered. He is also capable of breaking his programming and obtaining emotions, though this proves to be difficult as diplayed in the episode, "Camille".

away and no new traffic should be forwarded <a href=http://valium-tg3c.blogspot.com >valium</a> hould generate a removal query. valium

References

Kerman, Judith B. (1991). Retrofitting Blade Runner: Issues in Ridley Scott's Blade Runner and Philip K. Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?. Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green State University Popular Press. ISBN 0-87972-509-5
Shelde, Per (1993). Androids, Humanoids, and Other Science Fiction Monsters: Science and Soul in Science Fiction Films. New York: New York University Press. ISBN 0-8147-7930-1
Sidney Perkowitz (2004) Digital People: From Bionic Humans to Androids Joseph Henry Press. ISBN 0-309-09619-7

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