Scientists Add Emotions To Robotic Head

DeviceGuru writes "Claiming that service-class robots will one day be pervasive, researchers at the University of the West of England's Bristol Robotics Laboratory (BRL) have begun investigating ways to make robots seem more human. As part of a project to enhance robot/human relationships, BRL has created a robotic head that can exhibit emotions, based on both verbal and non-verbal cues. Check out the videos in the article — especially the slightly creepy one in which the robot contemplates its purpose and its relationship to its environment."

Comments

Re:However, the only emotions are hate and anger

[Anonymous Coward]

Here here, I totally agree. This is the sort of work that sets robotics back, not moves it back. People have to concentrate on real mechanical and sensor challenges, not this sort of head line grabbing junk.

Tagged teddyruxpin

[Culture20]

Because that's all this thing is. 15-20 years, and all we get are a few more servos that act based on voice inflection? Teddy Ruxpin at least was affordable by the masses.

Robots vs CGI vs Puppetry

[BiggerIsBetter]

This might be a naive question, but hasn't the movie industry covered most of these bases already, with CGI facial expression algorithms and puppetry?. What's the new part?

beware the creepiness factor

[Iowan41]

They would be better off making robots look like 'droids' not people; as Wall-e and even Star Wars have shown, you can express emotion-equivalents without entering into the creepiness-zone of not-quite-human that you can get in some computer animation or clowns.

Re:However, the only emotions are hate and anger

[lysergic.acid]

probably not, but i think robots are more low maintenance. they won't pee everywhere, tear up furniture, or make a mess. they also won't starve or begin to stink if the patient forgets to take care of them.

i mean, even dogs still have some level of autonomy and needs of their own. a robotic pet won't mind being held in the lap of a patient and being petted for hours. it can also be turned off when the patient goes to sleep.

you could even give every patient in a convalescent home their own robotic pet to keep in their room. but doing that with real animals would be a logistical nightmare for the staff. instead of taking care of 100 patients they now have to take care of 100 patients and 100 animals.

Garbage

[religious freak]

The two quickest ways to tell this is garbage is:

1. The content of the "robot's message" is not something any top notch researcher would do (really, you think most people would think that kind of thing is FUNNY when we get closer to humans in the household? Can you say unreasonable and unproductive government regulation???)
2. It simply sucked. I saw better emotions on Kismet 10+ years ago.

Re:However, the only emotions are hate and anger

[KDR_11k]

It's useful for human-machine interaction. When you want to use a robot where it interacts with people it should probably seem more alive to the humans. Somebody's gotta invent it and there are enough companies working on different applications for robotics that the sensor and mechanical challenges get handled by someone else.