Japan roboticists predict rise of the machines

Ishiguro believes recent breakthroughs in robotics and artificial intelligence will accelerate the synthesis of man and machine. — AFP

Set in 2019, cult 80s movie Blade Runner envisaged a neon-stained landscape of bionic "replicants" genetically engineered to look just like humans.

So far that has failed to materialise, but at a secretive research institute in western Japan, wild-haired roboticist Hiroshi Ishiguro is fine-tuning technology that could blur the line between man and machine.