Slashdot Mirror
Robot Can Read Human Body Language
An anonymous reader writes "European researchers have developed a new approach to artificial intelligence that could allow computers to respond to behavior as well as commands, reacting intelligently to the subtle nuances of human communication. It's no trivial feat – many humans struggle with the challenge on a day-to-day basis."
I'm sure this bot will pick up more chicks than your average slashdotter!!
I always suspected Tim Roth was a robot, but now I have proof!
No sig for the moment.
When this is eventually better developed and more accurate, this could be a boon for parents/caregivers of the autistic.
"A casual stroll through the lunatic asylum shows that faith does not prove anything." ~Friedrich Nietzsche
many humans struggle with the challenge on a day-to-day basis
I bet one or two of them are reading this right now.
Whale
...to body language, the problem is humans using such an ambiguous form of communication when they could make the effort to be explicit with words.
*middle finger* ,,|,,
the problem is not humans struggling to respond...to body language, the problem is humans using such an ambiguous form of communication when they could make the effort to be explicit with words.
Spoken like a true Slashdotter!
No sig for the moment.
I am Robotron Y76P-X12, your new protocol robot. I am capable of detecting your very needs before you even verbally express them. I can tell by your shy appearance and baggy pants that your reproductive organs make you feel insecure. Would you like a free trial of Vimax?
for one, welco... oh, crap
-Would you like to clean up your desktop icons now? -NO! -Are you sure you want to change the extension of this file? -YES! -Your body language shows you're getting nervous. Would you like to play some Patience now? -NO! AAAAARGH!
What I'm getting with this is George Orwell's 1984... 'cept with computers spotting the revolutionists
This needs more cowbell!!!
Let's see how good can this robot read a politician.
:)
If it is any good it will get banned in seconds.
Love many, trust a few, do harm to none.
Unless of course they speak different languages...
In which case the problem at hand is narrow-mindedness.
"It's no trivial feat – many on Slashdot struggle with the challenge on a day-to-day basis"
Sorry about the mess.
Robot: "I won't do the dishes until you calm down."
Me: "I *am* calm."
Robot: "That is not what your body is telling me."
Me: !!!!!!
And by "humans" you mean "ladies"?
I swear, I was just trying to read your body language!
Or humans doing "The Robot"? Just sayin'....
Prisencolinensinainciusol. Ol Rait!
Um, you do realize that body language is a universal language that cuts across cultures, ethnicities, and time, don't you? There's an old Chinese proverb that says "We all smile in the same language." And that's as true today as it was thousands of years ago when the first person (who may not have been anywhere near China) said it.
Body language is subtle and can be ambiguous, but that does not detract from its importance in human communication. In short, the problem isn't with the rest of the world using, it's with you for not making the effort to understand it.
God invented whiskey so the Irish would not rule the world.
I also think it serves as a bit of a social firewall to keep the "ins" and the "outs" just the way they are.
I suspect that lots of people are subtle on purpose so that only the select few they want in on the message actually understand it, deliberately leaving the socially impaired outsiders clueless.
This kind of system, along with things that react to facial expressions, eye movement or brain activity are cool and everything, but what kind of usability gains are we going to get here? Is it really an advantage to have your computer know you're pissed, for example, or sad? Oh yeah, we can get a google-ads type response to your mood; "Looks like you're crying - click here to FedEx Kleenex," or maybe alert security that you've become enraged in your cubicle and are an imminent threat to your coworkers and company property - great. Conversely, if this does do something useful, you'd doubtlessly end up in situations where you're second-guessing the algorithms to accomplish something with twitches and contortions you could otherwise do with a few clicks or not bother with at all.
I'd be much much happier if we got some software out there that can tell that I should have used "first" instead of "firs" in a sentence that currently passes as correct in grammar/spell checking, instead of criticizing me for using passive tense, but that's all less cool.
Even as you read this, your pants are strangling your loins! Aaa!
Would not the AI need to be hard-coded with said 'nuances'? Body language is not exactly universal. For example, in the USA, looking in the eyes of the person your are speaking with carries a message of honesty and sincerity. But in the some countries, that same body language carries a message of defiance and disrespect. Most humans can pick up on the difference right away based on autonomic sampling of their surroundings. But I doubt the AI will be able to do that.
I judt got a nre Kinesis keybiartf so please excusr ant egregiou typos.
So basement dwelling scientists developed what body language is considered interpretable? Great, a whole legion of robots that interpret licking the Cheetos crust off your fingers before your code compiles as the universal signature of an Alpha male.
Sure baby, I'll give you my phone number...in Hex
I guess slashdot submitters aren't that good at reading "article language".
Have you read my blog lately?
"Aqui en Mexico, todos los trabajadores tenemos acceso a servicios de salud publica."
Aun así, están trepando las paredes para entrar en el Norte.
Python: 'And then suddenly you have a language which says "we're all stuck with whatever the whiniest coder wants".'
You are completely incorrect. What an old Chinese proverb says does not make it true. The identical smile of two twin brothers can mean something totally different; the identical smile of the same person can mean two different things depending on context.
When you move across cultures, different body language can have specific interpretations, or in one country be a habit where in another country it is considered a rudeness.
The majority of responses to this thread reflect the worst excesses of American self-centredness: in Spain over the years, I have so often seen a US tourist shouting at the native, making contorted facial expressions to try to get some message across. He then gets offended when the Spaniard moves his hands in a gesture which is perfectly normal for this country, but unusual and much more confrontational in the US. In fact he should have just taken the time to speak careful English and realise that we can probably do the same thing back.
so that I can follow it?
"European researchers have developed a new approach to artificial intelligence that could let computers to respond to behaviour as well as commands, reacting intelligently to the subtle nuances of human communication. It's no trivial feat - many humans struggle with the challenge on a day-to-day basis"
Computers can do math better than me, read body language better than me, and the bots can play games better than me. Looks like my only remaining advantage is a greater efficiency at turning fluid grains into pee. :(
Kwisatz Haderach
Sell the spice to CHOAM
This Mahdi took Shaddam's Throne
Absolutely. I went to a private school and am familiar with the privileges of an Old Boys' network. Yes, competence is a must, but what makes you an insider is a particular way you must act: a social protocol that is on its surface, the mark of someone well-spoken, polite and reasonable, but underneath is a way to make sure that the undesirables are snubbed. Body language, accent, jargon, dress, mannerisms: all these things are involved.
It is all the more useful that people believe such things as body language are innate and immutable. It means we can pretend you're equal while we're more equal than you; it means that, if you're especially unobservant, we can act in a way that you interpret as naturally suave, sophisticated and respectable, when in fact we're just carefully controlling what you think is uncontrollable.
In short, the elite get a lesson in marketing, whatever their field. The middle classes think they're too smart to need that lesson, then wonder why then seem to reach a ceiling.
Spoken like a true socially impaired outsider... don't you ever use jargon that is only understood by your small clique of people, and not understood by anyone else? Every programmer and engineer I know of does (including myself). Human beings are social animals and are extremely socially competitive, especially the females.
I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
I follow the rules of Jon Postel and my (UK) amateur radio license:
1. "Be conservative in what you send, liberal in what you accept";
2. "The Licensee may use codes and abbreviations for communications as long as they do not obscure or confuse the meaning of the Message."
In other words, I use jargon only among those who will understand the jargon and only when that jargon aids in communication (*). Otherwise, I try strenuously to avoid it.
(*) Consider 2 surgeons using laymans' terms for parts of the body lest the patient is offended that he does not understand every word. Are you prepared to take responsibility for the ensuing ambiguity?
...to body language, the problem is humans using such an ambiguous form of communication when they could make the effort to be explicit with words.
I don't understand what you mean. Could you turn on your webcam?
"I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)
When you move across cultures, different body language can have specific interpretations, or in one country be a habit where in another country it is considered a rudeness.
That there are differences does not mean there are not universals.
While it is true that "body language" broadly defined is not universal, aspects of it are, as are aspects of facial expression, just as they are in other species.
Pointing out the existence of differences says nothing about the existence of universals.
Blasphemy is a human right. Blasphemophobia kills.
My philosophical version: "Thus spoke a Slashdotter" :)
That there are differences does not mean there are not universals.
Name me three "body language universals".
cowering, fidgeting, humping
I am the richest astronaut ever to win the superbowl.
That can't be a serious question...
Fingers in the ears.
A raised fist.
Finger pointed at crutch, head nodding up and down, rye smile.
They all mean the same thing.
Paranoid much?
You sir, are a fucking idiot.
Good start.
Cultural differences don't disrupt the fact that your body reacts in certain way depending of the emotion you are expressing.
Ever heard of the "British stiff upper lip"? Cultural elements sometimes exist precisely to repress any ways you might feel like expressing an emotion, and to teach you to present your body in a certain way.
I assume this is because you really just wanted to go on a "I hate Americans" rant, and this topic was as good as any.
I don't hate Americans. I've lived in Virginia for a short while. But I do criticise the worst excesses of American self-centredness. Any superpower is going to develop such excesses, exhibited by some proportion of its natives. The Romans did it, the Spanish did it, the Brits did it, and now the Yanks do it.
Maybe you should go read what body language really is http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_language [wikipedia.org]
I can't begin to conceive what thought process would lead to the belief that linking to the Wikipedia article "Body language" would contribute toward an argument. Are you teaching me that Wikipedia exists? Are you saving me the trouble of typing "body language" into Google, which is almost guaranteed to return that page as a first link? Are you highlighting some specific cited on the Wikipedia page which contradicts the post you are responding to, but forgot to mention it?
I like to refine my understanding and correct any mistakes I have made - especially in the rare event that I've wrongly not generalsed globally - but you haven't given me anything to work with.
:( = Sad :) = Happy :D = Ecstatic
That there are differences does not mean there are not universals.
Name me three "body language universals".
There are lots actually, especially among facial expressions (as noted above). Smiles, sneers, crying, frowns, etc are all understood to be fairly universal behaviors. They are universal responses to stimuli, and they are commonly understood by people irrespective of culture. The thing is that these relatively simple behaviors that are likely innate to the organism, rather than learned behaviors. Many of these reflexes are even understood across species.
He then gets offended when the Spaniard moves his hands in a gesture which is perfectly normal for this country, but unusual and much more confrontational in the US.
This is an example of a more complex learned behavior. You are correct in that this kind of gesture can only be understood within its cultural context; however this is not true "body language". This might be considered as simply Language, that happens to involve the hands. A better example to illustrate your point would be that of handshakes or eye contact. These behaviors, though they seem very simple and straightforward, do show huge differences across cultures.
If you'd settle for just one example of a body language universal, consider sexual arousal. Male sexual arousal is fairly easy to identify, and is generally understood across all cultures.
You just CANNOT have geeky programmer types figure out human body language well enough to create a set of working rules to program into a robot! Why? Well let's see, most geeky programmer types (myself included) already have a certain social awkwardness and trouble recognizing/reacting to human social quirks as it is, for the main reason that they generally don't associate as often with non-geeky people. Now, I'm not saying this is always true of course, but I think it's at least generally the case, and probably more so with people who mess around with robots all day. I think before we see robots that act and seem human, will be the day that normal cheerleaders and soccermoms can work on robot's AIs without realizing what they are doing(which I'm guessing is going to be a long while, unless you count the furby...).
would you prefer he used body language?
My question is, would it be a good idea to let an AI understand more about us than we do? Assuming it can even be done, given our lack of understanding about ourselves. What if we squint our eyes, move our eyebrows, or make a hand gesture without knowing it, and without understanding fully what our subconscious means by it? Should an AI be allowed to know exactly what were are feeling and thinking, and then act upon it?
While this could be very useful, for example a personal AI telling us that we should take a break, or provide us with sound assurances or advice, I can also see it being taken advantage of. If you had a high understanding of body language, and the needs of a certain person or group, you could influence people almost subconsciously.
The "stiff upper lip" is just words. There is no facial gesture. The term was invented around the time Cricket was made the national sport as an effort to promote British Nationalism to get through some hardship or another that they were having.
Can you be Even More Awesome?!
You may have noticed me use the word "firewall" to describe the situation ;)
mod parent down for not understanding the difference between cultural gestures and evolutionary psychological bodylanguage.
http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=1474090&cid=30391496
It's not about fate, it's about character.
there be no shelter here, the frontline is everywhere!
Wikipedia makes the uncited statement that "body language" refers to the subset of body language which is unconscious. This, perhaps, allowed the post you linked to to make the No True Scotsman fallacy in finding a re-definition of "body language" to fit the argument.
Body language refers to any communication of information using the body, Thus:
1. Gestures are learnt through imitation or conscious effort in culture are part of body language;
2. Gestures which may be innate, but which are refined and controlled in context and according to culture and personal circumstances, are part of body language.
This is not quite right. There's no facial expression, but that doesn't mean it has nothing to do with facial expressions. It's not just words; it refers to the noticeable trait of _not_ displaying emotion through facial expression (keeping your upper lip 'stiff' or motionless makes it difficult to express fear or upset), which is a characteristic that is held to be common between the English, Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish.
It has nothing particular to do with nationalism, and everything to do with unity, stoicism, and resisting the hasty resort to anger.
Compare the US response to 9/11 (anger, hatred, vitriol, grief) with the British response to 7/7 (this isn't going to stop us living out our lives, are they stupid, did they really think this would work?, we're not going to give in etc.)
I'm British and not sure which response is the better, but the British response to those events would be a "stiff upper lip" response simply because we don't give in to emotion quite so easily.
Hm, sorry... for some reason the response I made never appeared even though I'd hit Submit and no response. What I said, summarising:
Fingers in ears: you're not listening? I'm not listening? Encouraging a smile? TV volume too loud? Migraine? Meditation? Hear No Evil?
Raised fist: Victory? Threat? Friendship solidarity? Socialist Solidarity? Evasion? Concept grasped? Holy Spirit grasped? Grab you by the balls? Shaking the dice? About to bring the other hand up for a European insult? About to ESL the letter G? Z (if I remember the alternative correctly)?
Blowjob movement: Very obviously cultural: miming requires you to know the act! Saw this on TV several times as a young kid before I learnt what it meant.
The real problem is that at the begining of the robot war they will know when we are going to strike. There is one hope Botox! By injecting our selves with it the robots will not be able decifer our plans and we will be able to strike first.
Knowledge = Power
P= W/t
t=Money
Money = Work/Knowledge so the less you know the more you make
http://xkcd.com/632/
I dont realize. Some body language have physiological roots, so should be common across cultures. But others are more imitation, things that you learn since child, and that is cultural, and in fact you can find "normal" body language in some cultures that could be pretty offensive in others. Anyway, current globalization are "normalizing" aspects of culture, including body language, and probably more than spoken languages.
I hope they put these in elementary and high schools now, use them to teach a new generation of Asperger nerds how to do it, so we can further infect the gene pool and avoid the need for any more Revenge of the Nerds movies?
Finger pointed at crutch, head nodding up and down, rye smile.
They all mean the same thing.
I have a broken leg and I want a sandwich?
Promote proofreading. Don't mod up sloppy posts.
Hey, I think if someone comes to your country, he should first learn your language. You don’t go to the USA, expecting they would speak your language, would you?
It’s a matter of politeness. You speak the language of the place where you are.
Any sufficiently advanced intelligence is indistinguishable from stupidity.
Cowering: this is an action, like walking from A to B. You cower from a threat to protect yourself. Looking at a few dictionaries, some interpret "cower" as synonymous with "cower with fear", in which case this isn't a body language universal, just a term to describe doing act A for precisely reason B.
Fidgeting: Oh, there couldn't be a less universal reason for fidgeting. Some do it because they're bored, some because they're concentrating hard, some because they're nervous, some because they're annoyed, some because they're brimming with glee. Some fidget intentionally to intimidate, others intend no effect on others. Some groups almost expect fidgeting - geeks might do it as a way of saying "I want to get on with getting my hands on X" - while other groups consider it very rude. Some cultures wave their hands around so much when they communicate that what you might call fidgeting might just be part of the course of motion of their hands as part of a long description: for example, little random movements could mirror a description of some build-up in the speech.
Humping: Act.
(N.B. I know that it conveys information to perform an act if anyone is observing you perform that act. But language is a system for communication, not the incidental transfer of information from observing some action or state of affairs.)
The Project Natal tech demo for Milo demonstrates a robot that can read human emotion. As far as I can tell, this is a real demo where the Milo AI thing reacts to the emotions on the girl's face and responds accordingly.
If you're going to stay there a while, perhaps, absolutely. Even for a short break, you'd do well to practice a few phrases.
If you're passing through, e.g. stopping off for a night in Dubai on the way to the Far East, it can be a very inefficient. Yes, you'd do well to learn a few customs of the culture before going to Dubai - not least because you probably wouldn't welcome arrest there :-) - but expecting you to learn Arabic would be excessive.
In the latter case, find out what language you are likely to have in common and speak clearly in that language. Don't flail with your face and arms and assume your body language will be common.
We have no need for em now for those repetitive tasks. And the Asberger chic geeks too.
dude, 2 people are having a discussion and you link to the guy you agree with and tell mods to mod down the other guy. you havent even contributed more than a line of text. that is weak.
You forgot the correlation between Autistic and Geek Hacker!
Also expect to hear "I believe you'll repay me but my Bioware Implant Chip reading your body language sez you're full of Archeopteryx shit."
My first Journal Entry ever, in 8 years! http://slashdot.org/journal/365947/aphelion-scifi-fantasy-horror-poetry-webzine
For example, one of the well-spoken, polite and reasonable things they teach us is to swear in our nick name: FuckingNickName. Carefully controlling what I would have thought is uncontrollable.
"I see undead people" Warcraft III - Necromancer
Compare the US response to 9/11 (anger, hatred, vitriol, grief)
with the British response to 7/7 (this isn't going to stop us living out our lives, are they stupid, did they really think this would work?, we're not going to give in etc.)
That's just a matter of perspective and your choice of adjectives. I live in New York state and the response I saw here in the US was much more like your description of 7/7 than 9/11. It was hardly the undirected anger you imply. Not to mention, you really can't compare the two incidents so easily; the scale of the attacks was too different.
Note: The above is not meant to be personal or have anything to do with Britain/US stereotypes. I just think your comparison is flawed.
Now, as for your actual point... I do think I'd have to disagree about the response, at least on an individual level. Admittedly, I don't have a huge sample of people to pull from, but I've known a number of folks from across the pond and I've found them to be generally more expressive (not necessarily more emotional) than my American friends. Between the small sample size and obvious filtering of people based on my preferences for friends, this may not mean anything, but I just wanted to throw what I've observed.
Again, I'm not saying you're wrong about the meaning of the phrase or about the emotion stereotypes.
The confidence of ignorance will always overcome the indecision of knowledge.
00 HOSTILE!
01 KILL!
02 GOTO 00
Without a doubt. Fry said it better than I would.
He then gets offended when the Spaniard moves his hands in a gesture which is perfectly normal for this country, but unusual and much more confrontational in the US.
That's not body language. That's sign language.
With the first link, the chain is forged.
Thanks for your response. I'm sure you're right about New Yorkers, and you might well be right about the British these days. I hope you are, because I think biting it back just makes us ill.
FuckingNickName turned on the stereo and began jamming out to his favorite Christmas carol, nodding his head in rhythm with the violent bouncing of the speakers. Turning around, he saw his young son holding his hands over his ears with a look of disgust on his face. Puzzled, FuckingNickName shouts above the music, "FuckingJr, what's wrong? You're not listening? I'm not listening? Are you encouraging me to smile? Do you have a migraine? Are you meditating? WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO COMMUNICATE???"
FuckingNickName would try to be more considerate than to cause that situation in the first place, if ever it considered having kids. Which is quite unlikely.
But FuckingNickName thanks you for illustrating that context and learnings (were you born aware that everyone uses their ears to hear?) are so important. And don't forget the great Western cultural privilege which kids have to use grunts and hand-waving to modify the behaviour of their parents. In an environment where the father wouldn't consider such an undermining of his authority, the kid's behaviour might be registered as, "My son is turning down the volume for himself by covering his ears," rather than, "My son is asking me to turn this down." There's a difference!
Like this?
$ make available
Yeah. The lady on my GPS told me that I'm a dickhead!
What gives?
Don't be apathetic. Procrastinate!
Smiles A smile can be a show of joy, appeasement, pity, threat, or anxiety.
sneers A sneer can arise from disgust or confusion. Further, raising one side of a lip is often used to indicate collusive agreement or to communicate that the listener has understood a concept.
crying Ever hear the phrase "tears of joy?"
frowns A frown can reveal anger, dissatisfaction, anger or deep concentration.
Keep trying.
Male sexual arousal? If you are referring to getting an erection, the main purpose is not communication. That's as much of a stretch as saying that people close their eyes when they go to sleep because they wish to communicate the fact that they will be unconscious. On second thought, don't keep trying. You're already grasping at straws.
That being said, understanding body language is extremely important, but body language is learned and there are probably as many dialects of body language as there are spoken language.
Wrong; cultural distinctions exist. The "V sign" is a common symbol of "peace" in the U.S., and formerly of "victory" during the World Wars. But in Australia? It's offensive, as George Bush Sr. found the hard way in 1992.
Is Capitalism Good for the Poor?
How is this news? Clippy recognized ALL my gestures back in 1998.
Some people value hard cash over benefits... [shrug]
No sig for the moment.
;_; = Sad ^_^ = Happy ^__^ = Ecstatic
Two separate studies, in 2007 at Hokkaido University and in 2009 at Glasgow University, showed that Japanese and other East Asians read facial expressions by looking mainly at the eyes, and the researchers noted that this is reflected in East Asian emoticons which put emphasis on the eyes, compared to Western emoticons which emote mainly with the mouth.
Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.
You're mistaking "body language" for sign language.
I am the richest astronaut ever to win the superbowl.