The world of robotics is evolving more quickly than we can keep track of, meaning today's robots look more like the humanoid C-3PO than little dustbins on wheels like R2-D2. Still, as robots become more realistic than ever, this has come with some unsavory suggestions for what humans might be doing with them.
We've previously covered Ameca as world's ‘most advanced’ humanoid robot, but it seems others are happier with more simplistic ones that are 'built for intimacy'. There are already concerns about the human race swapping real-life relationships for those with machines, with an influx of people admitting to grooming LLMs and marrying ChatGPT, while psychologists have warned about the dangers of these interactions.
Elon Musk has previously teased the idea of 'sex robots', but in a wild move away from humanoid-looking robots, Japan's University of Electro-Communications has released the 'Licker' robot.
Ryota Shijo’s Licker robot is designed to replicate the human tongue and moves in four distinct ways.
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The University of Electro Communications explains how the aim of this seemingly odd robot is to "grow social bonding, regardless of species by licking."
Expanding on how the Licker came to lick, the team added: "At first, we analyzed the human tongue motion and found four basic motions. Based on this result, we developed an originally designed tongue motion robot."
This was done by trying to mimic the "tactile feeling of the tongue, such as softness of tongue itself and slimy feeling of saliva."
Although they don't explain exactly what kind of tests were conducted, they remain adamant that 'demonstrations' have proved the robot "can present [the] realistic tactile feeling being licked."
When footage of the Licker was shared on X by DramaAlert, the account referred to it as a 'freak bot', seemingly giving a wink to some potentially NSFW uses.
While many in the comments have obviously mocked the idea, this is a move to improve the industry of soft robotics that has already found uses in industries like rehabilitation.
Oddly, this isn't the first licking robot we've seen. Way back in 2016, Business Insider reported on YouTuber "mansooon0", who created his own tonguebot to lick his favorite anime characters on a screen (it's probably best not to ask).
As for the creation from the University of Electro Communications' Licker robot, one person wrote: "Bro really out here inventing next-level foreplay tech 💀 Japan never disappoints."
Another joked: "Japan said 'therapeutic licking robot' and we all just nodded like it's normal 😂👅 Future is wild."
A third concluded: "Foreplay bot. This should finish off the rest of humanity nicely."
No matter what you think about the evolution of robotics, it seems like we can't stop the future of a Westworld-inspired future where people will pay big bucks for more natural-looking robotics.