Events

Guest lecturer: Professor Yulia Frumer, Assistant Professor, Bo Jung and Soon Young Kim Chair of the History of East Asian Science and Technology, Johns Hopkins University Mori Masahiro (1927~) is best known in America and in Europe as the person who first described the phenomenon of uncanny valley in 1970. Yet Mori's contribution to the field of Japanese robotics went well beyond the uncanny. In addition to designing a series of groundbreaking robots, Mori also founded the Buddhism-inspired Mukta Institute, established the Robocon competition, and published numerous books in which he called for integration of Zen philosophy and practice into engineering education. This talk explores the interplay between Mori's robotics work, engineering methods, Buddhism, and the role of psychology and cognitive science in Japanese humanoid robotics.