The Wii Fit is so Last MacWorld, Taizo Is In
posted Sunday Sep 13, 2009 by Jon Wurm
The days of fitness gurus and cardio DVDs with people in them may very well be numbered. The National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology and General Robotics have developed Taizo, a small humanoid robot with 26 joints that closely resembles Frosty the Snowman wearing a space suit. Taizo's purpose is to help elderly Japanese with rehabilitation efforts by taking them through calisthenics routines.
It is capable of performing 30 different moves and can keep the workout going for up to 2 hours on one charge. Taizo is made of fiberglass reinforced plastic and recognizes simple voice commands and can even link to computers with WiFi or Bluetooth (that's awesome)!
While no official prices have been released yet it has been reported by Sankei News that the robots will be available next year and cost around $8000 USD with the option to lease.
Forget the elderly and the Wii Fit. I want to get one of these to help me exercise every day and spot me when I go to the gym. I think it would be awesome to see them following around a tiny Frosty the Snowman and mimicking its moves.
Do you think robots like this are an effective way to administer rehabilitation?
