Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto

IU professor Karl MacDorman can't replicate a da Vinci, but that doesn't mean he isn't interested in creating a masterpiece.\nIt's just that in his "Mona Lisa," the enigmatic smile would come and go as you did.\nThe psychology of human-computer interaction instructor is part of a team diving into the up-and-coming field of android science, a high-tech robotic-oriented answer to the study of human interaction.\nThe androids developed by MacDorman and his team are essentially upscale robots with humanistic physical features and personality traits. But MacDorman said he did not spend his childhood wishing to live in the world of "The Jetsons."\n"I was never really interested in robots," he said. "Computers just always seemed like much more of a living art form."\nSomewhere between a bachelor's degree in computer science from the University of California at Berkeley and a doctoral degree from the University of Cambridge, MacDorman changed, and he has been doing the "robot" ever since.\nHe said it was the cognitive science behind it all that initially piqued his interest.\nHe recently spent five years researching in Japan, what he calls the frontier of android development.\n"Japan is ahead. The U.S. doesn't have a strong industry in consumer electronics right now," he said. "We'll be behind, but hopefully we'll learn from their mistakes."\nIt was not a mistake that brought MacDorman and partner Hiroshi Ishiguro together. MacDorman and Ishiguro, the director of the Intelligent Robotics Laboratory at Osaka University in Japan, have developed a team of androids that have been key in the studies of diseases such as autism and other psychological disorders.\nThe duo has even created human prosthetics that help those who are disfigured due to birth defect or injury.\n"These androids can be used to see how it would be possible to implant small motors in areas of the face and even other parts of the body to make it appear that there is muscle movement," MacDorman said. "It is a new take on facial reconstruction."\nOr facial replication. The team is now so advanced in the skill of developing humanistic androids that a nearly exact double of a person can be created. It was Ishiguro who was robotically cloned.\n"Some say it's narcissistic," MacDorman said. "I think they're wrong. If you look at the great artists, all of them have a self portrait." \nMacDorman's own android double hasn't been painted into the picture, yet. He admits the thought would be an eerie experience. \n"I'd imagine it would be slightly more strange than meeting an identical twin," he said. \nMacDorman said the replication of a celebrity is a possibility, but he sees serious legal complications accompanying such an undertaking, not to mention challenges presented by cultural differences.\n"Japan actually has a very extensive sex-doll industry," he said. "And sometimes the public does get confused with our androids and their purpose."\nThe researcher explained that this, among other cultural differences, took some getting used to, but he said that nothing was so daunting a task as learning the language. \nDespite the challenges, MacDorman is no stranger to international lifestyles. In addition to Japan, he has also lived in Mexico, Switzerland, England, South Korea and Canada. He attributes his adventurous spirit to the fact that he lacks the fear of being outside his comfort zone.\nIn the future, aside from bringing an android lab to the IU campus, the globetrotter hopes to continue his world travels.\n"The only continents I haven't been to are South America and Antarctica," he said. "I can hope for a conference to be held in one of those places, but I can't say I would apply for Antarctica"