blow up, blow off, suuuuuupeeer kawaaaiiiiiiii, CoCoNatch

Yale Prof Defends James Franco's Academic Reputation

Says he finds it hard to believe claims by an ex-NYU professor that the actor routinely blew off class.

機器人收電郵 隨內容起舞

〔特約記者鄭曉蘭／綜合報導〕日本由年輕學子所組成的研究團隊，正在研發一款搭配電腦、 手機乃至於微網誌「推特」（Twitter）使用的溝通機器人「Coconatch」。該款手掌大小的機器人不僅外型亮眼可愛，接收到推特或電郵等訊息 時，還會以不同色彩光線、搖晃模式或聲音等表現訊息內容情感，若以手掌揉搓機器人，它還會以簡單句子代為回覆訊息。Coconatch預計今年秋天上市， 業者希望該款機器人能夠成為年輕女性傳送或接收電子訊息的最佳伙伴。

據日本「產經新聞」報導，日本東京大學、早稻田大學研究生及機器人創投 企業「YUKAI工學」，在大阪大學機器人工學教授石黑浩指導下，研發出能夠輔助人際日常溝通的機器人Coconatch。Coconatch能在連接電 腦的情況下，接收各種文字訊息。例如，若使用者友人以電腦或手機傳送訊息「生日快樂」，Coconatch會以閃光、搖晃通知使用者，同時還能直接唸出 「生日快樂」等簡單句子。若該名友人也使用Coconatch，使用者只要以手掌揉搓機器人，選擇想要回覆的訊息內容，該友人的Coconatch也會以 同樣方式通知接收訊息，並直接唸出「謝謝」等回覆句子。

當Coconatch接收到較為複雜的訊息內容時，也能根據訊息表情符號或關鍵字， 分析訊息情感，並以不同光線或搖晃加以表達。像是以紅色閃光表現憤怒、輕微顫抖表現恐懼等。若搭配時下最流行的微網誌「推特」使用，透過 Coconatch將文字轉換成各種情緒後，電腦的人際溝通也能充滿生命力。

研發團隊表示，年輕女性的接受度可說是機器人普及的首道難關， 研發Coconatch就是希望年輕女性能讓機器人走進她們的生活。該團隊指導教授，同時也是日本著名擬真機器人研發學者石黑浩則說：「當初也沒人料到 『電子雞』（Tamagotchi）或『推特』會風靡一時，Coconatch也很有可能創造另一波新潮流。」

M.I.S.S. Techcessories: CoCoNatch, the Cutest Twitter Accessory Ever

Posted on 13 July 2010 | No Comment

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Want some wiggling jellybeans to go along with your tweets?

Everyone knows by now that anything that comes from Japan is either going to be a) a giant, transforming robot or b) suuuuuupeeer kawaaaiiiiiiii. The CoCoNatch falls into the latter category. Currently being developed by students from both the University of Tokyo and Waseda University, the CoCoNatch is a communication robot that lights up and convulses whenever a new message hits your Twitter feed. It connects to your computer via USB, and will display different colors depending on the context of the new tweet. Gently massaging CoCoNatch will allow you to respond to the message, and 20 different phrases can be recorded and played back when appropriate. As for the design, the confused jellybean look is meant to appeal to people who would otherwise avoid robots altogether. Good idea, since most robots are known to either blow stuff up or marry off couples.

At the moment, the plan is to start selling them in the fall for around $45 a piece.

blow off
1. Vent one's strong feelings; see blow off steam.
2. Disregard, ignore; evade something important. For example, If you blow off your homework, you're bound to run into trouble on the exam. [Slang; second half of 1900s]
3. Overcome, defeat easily, as in With Rob pitching, we'll have no trouble blowing off the opposing team. [Slang; 1950s] Also see blow away, def. 2.
4. Ignore, abandon, refuse to take part. For example, The college is blowing off our request for a new student center. [Slang; mid-1900s]

blow up

1. [scientific computation] To become unstable. Suggests that the computation is diverging so rapidly that it will soon overflow or at least go nonlinear.

2. Syn. blow out.