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Scientists Try To Make Robots More Human
mikesd81 writes "The Associated Press has an article about a robot named George that plays hide-and-seek. Impressively, the robot can actually also find a place to hide, and then hunt for its human playmate. Scientists are calling this 'a new level of human interaction'. The machine must take cues from people and behave accordingly. Researchers aim to imply humanity in robotics by creating technology that can connect with humans in a more 'thoughtful' way. The places to first see this technology are in the most human-oriented fields — those that require special care in dealing with the elderly, young and disabled." From the article: "'Robots in the human environment, to me that's the final frontier,' said Cynthia Breazeal, robotic life group director at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 'The human environment is as complex as it gets; it pushes the envelope.' Robotics is moving from software and gears operating remotely - Mars, the bottom of the ocean or assembly lines - to finally working with, beside and even on people. 'Robots have to understand people as people,' Breazeal said. 'Right now, the average robot understands people like a chair: It's something to go around.'"
I once seen a (dutch) documentary in which researchers handed over some Aibo-dogs to elderly people:
;).
Whereas I thought they would immedeately reject it (scary technology and such) I was amazed that not only did they accept it, they also embraced it because of its multiple functions an 'ordinary' pet couldn't offer.
For one, it didn't need any care that one, once forgetting starts to be a daily part of life, tends to forget (hell, some even forget feeding themselves once dementia has been set in).
Also, whereas normal pets could be too exhausting, the Aibo with its 'react-to-impulses-from-the-owner'-mechanism, was much easier to comprehend and adjust to.
It was endearing to see how some of them used the doggy to attract other people's attention in the elderly home, who normally they would have shyed away from talking too; But once the curiousity broke the formality-barrier, they would be socialising very quickly with them. I was amazed how some of them really started treating them as real pets (calling it names, talking to it as if it really understood them), and were shattered when, at the end of the research, they were taken away from them.
I really -do- think there is an opportunity here, where we could start some more research in this area as to start to make the last stages of life more enjoyable for the less fortunate... Hell, we should be donating Wii's to kids -and- elderly homes
Try catching the fly in a transparent container.
Flies have much faster reflexes than humans so it's going to be hard to win that way. Maybe flies don't understand transparency or maybe they haven't evolved reflexes to deal with transparent containers (in contrast to things like animal tails) or maybe their eyes aren't good enough to detect transparent materials. Either way, as long as the container is sufficently transparent, the fly will just sit there while you put the container over it.
Actually I know someone who was looking into this exact issue a while ago.
The question was whether robots should be used in aged care. This was for Japan, which is a world leader in robots. She went to a conference with a whole lot of techies (she was, I think, a psychologist), basically asking the question whether they should do this. This is a particular issue in Japan where respect for elders a and parents is a major issue. She was a little shocked to find that the question wasn't actually being addressed. People were more concerned about whether it could be done than whether it should be done.
Unfortuantely she has gone to Afghanistan with her husband for a while, so I think she has stopped working on this.
meh