Earticle

In 1928, botanist Makoto Nishimura created the robot Gakutensoku. Far from walking, this robot was a giant 3m long robot with no other functions. However, ‘Gakutensoku’ was the first in the world to express various emotions through the eyelids, pupils, and lips. Nishimura made the skin of ‘Gakutensoku’ out of rubber, and it used air pressure as a power source to make facial expressions and gestures smooth like a human being. Nishimura’s attempt like this was to infuse the doll with a “soul as if it were a living being.” This is in line with the oriental view of life, which recognizes that life exists in all beings, including humans, along with the Karakuri dolls.