Japanese Company 3D Prints ‘MAYUPO’ – The Worlds ‘Cutest’ Female Robot Companion

The future of robotics is one which many people love to dream about. This has been going on for decades, as we move closer and closer to a day when robots can provide for the intelligence and know-how that meets or exceeds that of human beings. Many people are afriad of such a time, fearing the worse and looking to films such as “Terminator” as a force behind this fear. However, others look at the great benefits that will come about thanks to robots that will eventually be able to perform tasks which even the most capable human beings can not dream of. This future will bring us robots that will be our servants, and perhaps, according to some, even our companions.

Back in December, we covered a story of a man named César Vonc who had developed a concept for a 3D printed sex robot, so the idea of robotic companionship may not be as far off as we think. For three Japanese envisionaries, Yoskiki Hishinuma, Rika Matsui, and Yoshihito Sasaguchi, they have another idea set in their heads for the future of robotics, companionship, and dare I say ‘love’?

Next week in Milan, Italy, at an event called Milan Salone, they will be unveiling a robot named MAYUPO, who they say is the world’s cutest female robot. MAYUPO has been 3D printed on a Stratasys Fortus 450mc 3D printer, with the help of a Japanese company called Altech. She is Yoshiki Hishinuma’s vision of what robots will look like in the year 2060, and she has been developed for a featured film which Hishinuma and his team are working on completing.

MAYUPO is not actually a functional robot, but rather the movie prop for the film, which depicts Tokyo in the year 2060, where humans and robots live together happily.  This is quite contrary to the way in which James Cameron depicted things in the “Terminator” movies. In this film, MAYUPO is a beautiful robot that starts to have human-like dreams after she is hit by a bolt of lightning. One day she meets a human being and proceeds to fall in love with him, as she begins to develop her very own consciousness.

As you can see in the photos, MAYUPO doesn’t look like your traditional robot, as she is the product of Hishinuma’s vision, and the hard work of makeup director Rika Matsui. Hishinuma and team are currently looking to raise additional funding for their film ‘MAYUPO: A Robot Dream of Apple Trees’.  It should be interesting to see exactly how the film turns out.

What do you think the future of robotics will look like? 3D printing most certainly will play a role in the customization of these “beings”. Will our future robots look something like MAYUPO, or –dare I say it — something closer to Terminator? Discuss in the MAYUPO forum thread on 3DPB.com. Check out the video below.

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