PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Hiroshi Ishiguro

Also known as H Ishiguro, H. Ishiguro

Hiroshi Ishiguro is a robotics researcher who uses androids and avatars to study human-machine communication. He studied engineering at Yamanashi and Osaka, coauthored the Robovie paper, and built the teleoperated Geminoid HI-1. He received the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Commendation and the Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Knowledge Award in 2015, then the Tateisi Prize in 2020. His research spans robot conversation and avatar systems; HI-6 uses retrieval-augmented generation to form replies from an operator's writing. He produced the Future of Life pavilion at Expo 2025; as of October 2026, he is a professor at Osaka University and ATR lab director and CEO of AVITA, which is developing humanoids and Physical AI with Unitree.

Timeline

  1. 1986–2006

    From engineering to androids

    He studies engineering at the University of Yamanashi and completes doctoral study at Osaka University in 1991. His early university posts include Yamanashi, Osaka and Kyoto, with a visiting-scholar position at UC San Diego. A 2001 paper he coauthors introduces Robovie as an interactive humanoid robot; in 2006, he builds the teleoperated Geminoid HI-1, an android double that reproduces his voice and movements.

  2. 2015

    Two awards in 2015

    He receives the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Commendation for Science and Technology and the Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Knowledge Award.

  3. 2018

    Developing robot conversation

    As research director of JST's Symbiotic Human-Robot Interaction project (2014–2019), he leads work on multimodal and multi-robot conversation systems for humanlike social robots.

  4. 2020

    The Tateisi Prize

    He receives the Tateisi Prize.

  5. By 2024

    Giving an avatar a voice

    His Moonshot project implements an autonomous dialogue system in HI-6, a Sonzai-Kan cybernetic avatar. It uses retrieval-augmented generation to form replies from digitized material such as the operator's writing.

  6. 2025

    Imagining future life at Expo

    He produces Future of Life, the Expo 2025 signature pavilion, which explores how technology could shape society and life fifty years ahead.

  7. March 2026

    Moving AVITA into physical AI

    AVITA, where he is president and CEO, starts a collaboration with Unitree to develop humanoid robots and Physical AI for real-world services.

  8. As of October 2026

    A professor and company CEO

    He is a professor of engineering science at Osaka University, Visiting Director of the ATR Hiroshi Ishiguro Laboratories, and President and CEO of AVITA.

Sources and credits

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  1. The University of Osaka Researchers rd.iai.osaka-u.ac.jp. Checked 14 October 2026.
  2. Team | Future of Life, the Signature Pavilion of ISHIGURO Hiroshi expo2025.or.jp. Checked 14 October 2026.
  3. Ishiguro Lab. - 2001 eng.irl.sys.es.osaka-u.ac.jp. Checked 14 October 2026.
  4. Meet the Remote-Control Self | WIRED wired.com. Checked 14 October 2026.
  5. Research Area/Projects | ERATO jst.go.jp. Checked 14 October 2026.
  6. Improvement of humanlike conversations in humanoid robots: Development of a child-like android with the ability to move jst.go.jp. Checked 14 October 2026.
  7. Goal 1 ISHIGURO Hiroshi PM Progress Report: Development of a CA which has a humanlike presence and a lifelikeness jst.go.jp. Checked 14 October 2026.
  8. Future of Life, the Signature Pavilion of ISHIGURO Hiroshi expo2025.or.jp. Checked 14 October 2026.
  9. AVITA Concludes MoU with Unitree to Begin Collaboration in the Humanoid and Physical AI Fields avita.co.jp. Checked 14 October 2026.
  10. 会社概要 | AVITA株式会社 avita.co.jp. Checked 14 October 2026.
  11. ATR｜Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International atr.jp. Checked 14 October 2026.