Published: June 26, 2008 11:31 pm         

EMA a steel at any price

Those of us of the human ilk have long been fascinated by robots.

In 1921, the term “robot” first was used by Czech playwright Karel Capek, in his play “R.U.R.,” or “Rossum’s Universal Robots.” The play did not end happily, as the robot made by the main character wound up killing him.

In 1941, science fiction writer Isaac Asimov coined the term “robotics.” The first industrial robot went online in a General Motors factory in New Jersey. It was named UNIMATE.

In 1958, Westinghouse created ELEKTRO, a human-like robot that walked, talked, played the piano and, not surprising given the time frame, smoked.

Robots have long been featured in movies and on television, from Gort in “The Day the Earth Stood Still” and the killing machines of the “Terminator” movies to the nervous robot of TV’s “Lost in Space.”

This weekend a new robot will join the pantheon of big screen mechanical heroes and villains, as Disney-Pixar’s animated “Wall-E,” opens nationwide.

There was a time, in the late-1940s and 1950s, when futurists predicted by the early 21st century humans would be surrounded by robots waiting to do our bidding, from cooking our food and cleaning our houses to mowing our yards and washing our cars.

Yeah, right.

There are plenty of robots around, of course. Honda has developed ASIMO, a humanoid robot who can walk, wave its arms and even conduct a symphony orchestra, which it recently did in Detroit. There are any number of in-dustrial robots doing repetitive tasks that would drive human beings to distraction. And, for the home, you can get those little robots that scurry around vacuuming your carpet. There are even robot toys like the wise-cracking Robosapien and little robot dogs.

And now a Japanese firm has created a robot girlfriend.

Lest your thoughts wander too far into the gutter, let me assure you EMA, as she is known, is not that kind of girl, er, robot. Besides, she’s only 15 inches tall.

EMA stands for Eternal Maiden Actual-ization, and she may be small, but she has an hourglass figure and a very friendly nature.

SEGA hopes to market EMA (pronounced Emma) to lonely men. She will go on sale in September, with a price tag of around $175.

She swings her hips when she walks and will offer a “kiss” when she goes into her “love mode,” which she does whenever a human face comes close. She has no lips, of course, so her kisses involve simply pressing her face against yours.

Thinking about gazing lovingly into EMA’s eyes? Forget it, she doesn’t have any, only a black plastic shield where her eyes should be.

On the up side, EMA runs on batteries, won’t nag if you forget to call and won’t bug you to commit.

She also can hand out business cards, sing, dance and flirt.

But the fact SEGA thinks there is even a market for a robot girlfriend is a sad statement about the state of human interpersonal relationships.

Heck guys, if you’re that lonely, get a dog. At least they can kiss you back.



Mullin is senior writer of the News & Eagle.