Toyota has made a new, more human robot

Toyota makes something called the C-HR. It’s an odd-looking but largely inoffensive little SUV that comes with hybrid power. This, though, is the T-HR3. Similar name, but very different proposition. It’s a humanoid robot that scares us greatly.

We shouldn’t be scared, though. Toyota says it “will explore new technologies for safely managing physical interactions between robots and their surroundings.” THR-3 previews “friendly and helpful robots that coexist with humans and assist them in their daily lives.”

For this, though, it has to resemble a human so that it has the dexterity and balance to help at home, with medical procedures, on construction sites and – according to Toyota – in outer space. Clearly not content with taking over Earth alone…

We jest, of course. It needs a human to operate it, and they do so via wearable controls that include a head-mounted display for seeing the robot’s point of view. So you should be able to quickly spot if its good intentions have gone awry and you need to run. Probably once your legs are out of the chair-control that would see the robot’s movements mimic yours…

Honda, and its star Asimo, is probably better known for making robots outside of its car division. But Toyota has been working on robotics since the 1980s. At 1.5m high, weighing 75kg and with ten fingers, THR-3 is the closest thing to a human it’s made yet.

It’ll be on display at the International Robot Exhibition 2017 in Tokyo at the end of November. Visit at your own risk…