Android Science

There is a good article on Scientific American.com about Hiroshi Ishiguro, the creator of the ultra-realistic robot Repliee.

Ishiguro is the director of Osaka University's Intelligent Robotics Laboratory. He calls his area of expertise Android Science, the merger of robot science and the study of human cognition. Ultimately he is studying the nature of human interactions with androids and pushing the robots to the highest levels of human 'realism.'
"Appearance is very important to have better interpersonal relationships with a robot," says Ishiguro. "Robots are information media, especially humanoid robots. Their main role in our future is to interact naturally with people."

By making his androids as realistic as possible he hopes to gain some insight into the humans that androids strive to be. Even so, he says that a perfect android will never be possible. An android may appear human for a short time, he says, but there will always be something that will give them away.

Science & Technology at Scientific American.com: Android Science -- Hiroshi Ishiguro makes perhaps the most humanlike robots around--not particularly to serve as societal helpers but to tell us something about ourselves