Osaka University, which is notorious for undertaking creepy robotic projects, just moved up my shit list, leap-frogging past the guy at my local Subway who can’t make a f***in’ tuna melt to save his life. “Have you threatened to stab him?” Pfft — have I threatened to stab him? OF COURSE I HAVE THIS ISN’T AMATEUR HOUR. Robotic babies, yo — you can’t even lie and say they’re cute.

Now roboticists at Osaka’s Hosoda Lab have built Pneuborn-7II and Pneuborn-13, pint-sized robots that emulate infants’ movements.

The robots get their names from their tiny pneumatic muscles — Pneuborn-7II mimics the movement of a seven-month-old, whereas Pneuborn-13 imitates a 13-month-old walking.

Great, robots that move like seven-month and 13-month old babies. I assume there’s a purpose for this. “Nah, not really.” Shocking. Literally — I’m about to drop both of them in an electrified kiddy pool. “WTF — you’re in Japan?!” I’ve been courting Godzilla!

Hit the jump for a shot of the 13-month old.

Link:
You Know What Aren’t Cute?: Robotic Babies