Honda's Asimo robot to retire after 20-year career wowing the public

Honda Motor Co.'s Asimo humanoid robot will retire on Thursday, ending its 20-year career of wowing the public with walking and dancing demonstrations at a showroom at the automaker's Tokyo headquarters. Since its debut in 2000, Asimo has become a symbol of Japan's pioneering robot technology, mastering the abilities to run, hop on one leg, speak sign language using five fingers and pour coffee into a paper cup from a tumbler. But Honda stopped all development of Asimo in recent years after last upgrading it in 2011 to give it the ability to make autonomous decisions such as avoiding bumping into someone while walking. In September of last year, the Japanese automaker announced a plan to develop an avatar robot, allowing a user to operate it virtually from a remote location. The new robot will be equipped with a multifingered hand and an original AI-supported remote control function, the company said.