Robot receptionist at Tokyo department store
A Japanese department store introduced the public to its new receptionist — a lifelike robot programmed to help customers find their way around the store. The Mitsukoshi Nihombashi department store in Tokyo said the robot, called Aiko Chihira, will serve as a receptionist on the seventh floor of the store till May 5. The robot, created by Toshiba in collaboration with Osaka University Intelligent Robotics laboratory, uses pre-programmed scripts to give directions to customers and contains 43 motors to allow her to gesture, blink, move her lips, create facial expressions and make other movements while speaking.
Store officials said they hope the robot will draw in customers. Aiko Chihira currently communicates in Japanese, English, Chinese, and Japanese sign language. Developers said they are working to teach the robot Korean. “We want it to be multilingual so that it can be used during the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo,” said Mitsukoshi sales director Shintaro Yamamoto.
(UPI)
Parrots make call for help in burning home
Firefighters responding to screams for assistance in a burning Idaho home said they thought they were saving people but instead rescued a group of parrots. Emergency crews first heard the pleas for help as they approached the outside of the residence in Boise. “What was actually recorded was them saying ‘fire, fire,”’ Victor Islas with the Middleton Fire Department told KBOI. “That’s what we got. ‘Help. Fire.’ Yeah. It’s a smart bird, smart bird. So there was actually nobody besides the birds inside the house.”
The birds were removed and given oxygen. The cause of the fire is under investigation. Crews told reporters the parrots must have been trained to issue warnings. In 2008, a parrot reportedly saved the life of a choking two-year-old girl in Denver, when it began screaming the words “mama” and “baby,” alerting a baby sitter. last January, a couple from Fort lauderdale said their pet parrot saved their lives by warning them that their house was on fire. One month later, a parrot in India reportedly helped identify its owner’s killer by screeching whenever the suspect’s name was mentioned.
(UPI)
US Court rejects appeal on Arizona ‘fish pedicures’
The US Supreme Court rejected an appeal by the owner a Phoenix-area spa that ran afoul of Arizona state regulations that barred her from providing pedicures in which clients have their feet nibbled by small fish to remove dead skin. The high court’s action, made without comment by the justices, ends a years-long case over fish pedicures, which have become a popular alternative to exfoliation for some spa-goers in recent years but are banned in some US States for health and safety reasons.
The procedure involves customers placing their feet in a water tank filled with toothless Garra rufa fish, also known as doctor fish, which suck the dead tissue off their feet to leave them feeling softer.
Cindy Vong, who has operated a nail salon in the Phoenix suburb of Gilbert since 2006, introduced the treatment in 2008. She imported fish from China and remodeled her business to create a separate fish spa area. In 2009, Vong was told by the Arizona Board of Cosmetology that the treatment violated the agency’s safety standards, and that she could face criminal charges.
(Reuters)
Wedding ring plucked from dog poop, returned to owner
An Alaska woman suspected her family’s dog snatched her wedding ring, but she couldn’t find proof — until the diamond-encrusted platinum band turned up months later at a local ball field. Nikki Balovich lost her ring in January when she was pregnant and often took it off her swollen finger, the Daily Sitka Sentinel newspaper reported. The Sitka woman suspected Halli was the culprit because the 90-pound mastiff puppy often carries household items in its mouth. She spent time searching for the band, including checking Halli’s poop outside.
“I gave up, I thought it was long gone,” she said. “We take the dog everywhere with us, on hikes, on the boat — what were the chances we’re going to find itIJ” Balovich had no evidence of the dog’s involvement until last week, when she saw a post on a Facebook sales site about a ring being found in an “unusual place”. Balovich had a gut feeling and contacted the poster, Bob Potrzuski. Turns out, his wife found the ring while picking up dog poop at a local ball field. Balovich also recently volunteered at the field, and brought along Halli. “It’s been on my hands ever since,” she said.
(Yahoo)
Man fights over who’s better: Jordan or lEBRON
Police say an argument over whether Michael Jordan or leBron James is a better basketball player ended in a Pennsylvania man’s arrest on aggravated assault and other charges. The Centre Daily Times reports that 22-year-old Daniel Mondelice was first arrested after fighting with another man over whether Air Jordan or King James reigns supreme. It wasn’t clear which player Mondelice backed.
He was released on bond and told not to return. Instead, he went to stay with a woman at another apartment. But police were called there when they say Mondelice became argumentative and refused to leave. It’s not clear what that argument was about. Online court records show Mondelice remained jailed and was unable to post bail.
(AP)