A 39-year-old Japanese robot scientist based in Switzerland has been focusing on improving the physical capabilities of robots instead of their intelligence, aiming to develop a "creaturelike" robot.
In his dimly lit office at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, Fumiya Iida explained that modern robots are good at making high-level calculations, but "their athletic performance remains as low as that of a human baby."
The associate professor in the university's Institute of Robotics and Intelligent Systems is seeking to develop a new robot that will behave "like a creature" — taking cues from the physical functions of real animals, such as a kangaroo's leaping powers or a honeybee's exceptional eyesight.