is a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

roboticist noted for his pioneering work in the fields of

robotics Robotics is an interdisciplinary branch of computer science and engineering. Robotics involves design, construction, operation, and use of robots. The goal of robotics is to design machines that can help and assist humans. Robotics integrat ...

and

automation Automation describes a wide range of technologies that reduce human intervention in processes, namely by predetermining decision criteria, subprocess relationships, and related actions, as well as embodying those predeterminations in machines ...

, his research achievements in humans' emotional responses to non-human entities, as well as for his views on

religion Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, ...

. The ASIMO robot was designed by one of Masahiro's students. In 1970, Mori published "Bukimi No Tani" (不気味の谷 ''The

Uncanny Valley In aesthetics, the uncanny valley ( ja, 不気味の谷 ''bukimi no tani'') is a hypothesized relation between an object's degree of resemblance to a human being and the emotional response to the object. The concept suggests that humanoid object ...

'') in ''Energy''. The article forwarded the hypothesis that as robots become more humanlike, they appear more familiar until a point is reached at which subtle imperfections of appearance make them look eerie. The observation led Mori to the belief that robot builders should not attempt to make their creations overly lifelike in appearance and motion. In 1974, Mori published ''The Buddha in the Robot: a Robot Engineer's Thoughts on Science and Religion'' in which he discussed the metaphysical implications of robotics. In the book, he wrote "I believe robots have the

buddha-nature Buddha-nature refers to several related Mahayana Buddhist terms, including '' tathata'' ("suchness") but most notably ''tathāgatagarbha'' and ''buddhadhātu''. ''Tathāgatagarbha'' means "the womb" or "embryo" (''garbha'') of the "thus-gone ...

within them--that is, the potential for attaining buddhahood." In 1988, Mori founded the first nationwide robot-building competition in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

and has widely promoted robot competitions in the years since then. Of Robocon, Mori has said, "When we lose ourselves in an activity, we become creative, friendly and funny. Think of how children are when they are playing. They are completely absorbed in the game; their eyes shine and they are all smiles. They're into the game, not themselves. That's the message of Robocon, too: To not be self-centered, but to love others and share the joy of creating wonderful things." Mori is currently president of the Mukta Research Institute, which he founded in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

in order to promote his views on religion and robots. The institute also provides consultation on the use of automation and robotics in industry.

References

External links

* Mori, M. (1970/2012)
The uncanny valleyK. F. MacDorman
& N. Kageki, Trans.). ''IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine, 19''(2), 98–100. * Mori, M. (2005)

''Proceedings of the Humanoids-2005 workshop: Views of the Uncanny Valley''. 5 December 2005, Tsukuba, Japan. * Mori, Masahiro
Das unheimliche Tal
Übersetzung aus dem Japanischen: MacDorman, Karl F.; Schwind, Valentin. in: Haensch, Konstantin Daniel; Nelke, Lara; Planitzer, Matthias (Hrsg.): Uncanny Interfaces. Textem Verlag, Hamburg 2019. S. 212–219, . {{DEFAULTSORT:Mori, Masahiro Japanese Buddhists 20th-century Buddhists 21st-century Buddhists Japanese roboticists 1927 births Living people Recipients of the Medal with Purple Ribbon