TOFU Project Boasts Cute OLED Eyes

What looks like a genetically modified furby is actually a cute robot known as TOFU, developed by the brainacs at the MIT Media Lab in the Personal Robotics Group.

TOFU is a project to explore new ways of robotic social expression by leveraging techniques that have been used in 2D animation for decades. Disney Animation Studios pioneered animation tools such as “squash and stretch” and “secondary motion” in the 50′s. Such techniques have since been used widely by animators, but are not commonly used to design robots. TOFU, who is named after the squashing and stretching food product, can also squash and stretch. Clever use of compliant materials and elastic coupling, provide an actuation method that is vibrant yet robust. Instead of using eyes actuated by motors, TOFU uses inexpensive OLED displays, which offer highly dynamic and lifelike motion.

While it won’t have puppy eyes that beg you to bring it home (which is a good thing since parents will bear the brunt of the cost by their kids’ desires), it does open up a new world of interaction with robots.