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 read body language in Brail.
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.
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.
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.