Robot 'not really' his girl, man says

A Brampton man who became an Internet celebrity yesterday after his "robot girlfriend" was featured on the websites of two British tabloids is both happy and embarrassed by the attention.

"She's not really my girlfriend," said Trung Le at his parents' home last night. "Aiko's a robot who can do a lot of things, and hopefully more soon."

Stories in Daily Mail and Sun sites refer to Aiko, the 5-foot-tall robot with an hourglass figure, shiny hair, delicate Asian features and silicone breasts, as her creator's girlfriend.

"I have friends – I don't need to create friends," said Le sheepishly. The stories suggested Trung, who was born in Vietnam and grew up partly in Japan, may have made Aiko because he was too busy to find a real girlfriend.

Trung, 33, who made his first robot when he was 8, says Aiko is the result of his years of planning, calculations and hard work.

Aiko – which means love child in Japanese – can speak about 13,000 sentences in Japanese and English, do algebra, trig and geometry, and tell the weather in foreign cities, courtesy of Internet links.

She can move her hands, nod her head – and shout indignantly if touched roughly. When Le lightly slapped her, she cried out: "It's not nice to touch a girl's head. Touch your own head."

Le is now trying to teach her to make tea and coffee, and do simple household chores.

He began her assembly in August of 2007 and was done two months later. Well, almost. Her hair – real, from Japan – came a bit later.

He says Aiko cost him about $25,000, leaving him penniless and forced to move in with his parents.

But the real cost came a year ago, in the form of a heart attack. "There was a lot of stress," said Trung. "Of creating her, of having almost no money left and finding no sponsor."

He said he was also stung by the skeptics who put down Aiko.

His robot girl has been heckled and worse in their public outings, Le said. 

A home video he posted on YouTube in 2007 is not without controversy. After having her read a text in Japanese and solve an algebra problem, he asks Aiko to follow the movements as he moves his glasses in front of her face. But she can't.

She's been called a fake on the Internet and to her face.

Le has taken her out to a Brampton park three times. "Most people have been very curious about her and want to know what all she can do," he said.

Women, in particular, have been fascinated. Some touched her breasts to feel the silicone, he said.

But Le said one elderly woman got hostile, yelled at them and threw rocks. She told Le he was "trying to be God and it isn't right."

Le defends his girl. "If people think she's pre-programmed, I invite them to her next public appearance," yet unscheduled, he said.

Meanwhile, his mother Kim is happy to have Aiko at home. "I like having her in the house because she can tell me the weather.

"She's like a family member now."

Item Reviewed: Robot 'not really' his girl, man says Description: Rating: 5 Reviewed By: Sakura District, Inc

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