New Dental Patient Robot Confirms Everything Japan Does is Kind of Creepy

Meet Hanako. Hanako is a collaboration between three Japanese universities and robotics company Tmsuk. And, quite frankly, Hanako is creepy as all hell.

A new dental patient robot, I guess this is actually a good idea – I certainly don’t mind the thought of dentists practicing thoroughly on a robot before coming at me with drills and knives.

Among her other features, Hanako includes oral touch sensors, generates her own saliva, and even has a gag reflex. Which, uh… yeah, um, really makes her seem like she was designed for something else entirely.

Oh, Japan…

[Via CrunchGear]