The topic of this week’s Only in Japan could be considered a crossover with another of our regular Gadget Helpline features – Reel to Real. Just check out this battling ‘bot – quite clearly based on the mechanical mates of Hugh Jackman in the movie Real Steel!
The ‘Droid is created by family man and roboto enthusiast Naoki Maru and is named Real King Kizer, a most regal name for the heavy metal heavyweight fighting machine which is controlled by a Kinect-style system by ASUS called Xtion Pro Live. King Kizer stands at 3 foot 2 inches from head to foot and the full body capture motion sensing technology means he can be fully controlled by a human puppet master who needs to be agile and accurate to command the robots range of hooks, jabs, ducks and dives – just like in the Real Steel movie.
The King’s blows are at best a little sluggish in his current version, as we see them demonstrated by Maru’s son who gives the ‘bot a workout on the punching bag and some focus pads, but it certainly provides something to think about for the future of this imaginative project. Already in Japan there are robot pro-wrestling matches held across the country and Maru is a veteran in un-mortal combat having spent years competing in Robo-One, a human-controlled robot boxing league!
Check out the Maru Family website – it’s in Japanese so you’ll be at a slight disadvantage is you can read the language, but there are still some cool photos and videos of Real King Kizer and his other robot pals!
Let us know your thoughts on our comments below or via our @Gadget_Helpline Twitter page or Official Facebook group.