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Scientists Add Emotions To Robotic Head
Posted by
timothy
on Sat Nov 22, 2008 10:27 PM
from the real-doll-upgrade dept.
from the real-doll-upgrade dept.
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."
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However, the only emotions are hate and anger (Score:5, Funny)
I personally think it was a bad idea.
Re:However, the only emotions are hate and anger (Score:4, Insightful)
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So a robot that is able to understand what people are saying more accuratly because it can also read there emotions is garbage? I mean, sure, perhaps this particular one (haven't read article) might be, as demonstrating emotions might just be silly or creepy to many people, but you aren't going to get far in human interacting with robots if they can't even detect sarcasm etc.
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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.
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Exactly so.
I just want the damn thing to without any emotional baggage.
Who exactly wants a human personification in a lawn mower. Why would anyone want this and why would someone spend any money on this, and how can we stop them before its too late?
Re:However, the only emotions are hate and anger (Score:4, Funny)
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Except for the necrophiliacs...
Re:However, the only emotions are hate and anger (Score:4, Interesting)
while this might not be useful for lawnmowers, it might be useful for robotic pets, caretakers, help desk workers, etc. who will be engaging in social interaction with people.
one interesting application for robotics that's already in trials in some places (in Germany, i think) is using robotic animals to provide environmental enrichment for convalescent patients. for instance, they might give an elderly patient a robotic seal pup to talk to, interact with, and take care of. for such robots, emotional expressiveness is extremely vital.
Parent
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There is a shortage of dogs and cats?
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There is a shortage of dogs and cats?
C'mon. Real seal pups are a pain to take care of.
Re:However, the only emotions are hate and anger (Score:5, Insightful)
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.
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for instance, they might give an elderly patient a robotic seal pup to talk to, interact with
Up north they give elderly patients robotic seal pups to club for physical therapy.
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I think you accidentally a verb there.
I c wot u there.
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Robotic head (Score:5, Funny)
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http://www.realdoll.com/cgi-bin/snav.rd?action=viewpage§ion=dollgallery [realdoll.com]
Take your pick ...
Tagged teddyruxpin (Score:4, Insightful)
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Yeah, where's the cassette slot on the thing? I always liked to slap a tape of death metal music in Teddy Ruxpins and watch 'em spaz around.
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You think that's weird? I also like to drive store staff insane by activating all their audio toys at the same time, sometimes with up to 10 singing reindeer going all at once.
It's my little bit of revenge for their putting up Xmas sales before Halloween even comes around nowadays. Because when I think Halloween, I think "Zombie Baby Jesus", with a little Jason Voorhees in the nativity scene.
Lexx (Score:4, Funny)
So now the robot head is madly in love with Xev ...
Sorry I can't remember the robots name/number.
Xev of course loves Kai, the (dead) last of the Brunen-Gee
I only watched that as it was on after SG1 / Invis (Score:2)
I only watched that as it was on after Star Gate SG1 and The Invisible Man / Farscape and Season 4 was not that good.
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So now the robot head is madly in love with Xev ...
Sorry I can't remember the robots name/number.
Xev of course loves Kai, the (dead) last of the Brunen-Gee
The robot is 790, and it eventually switches it's affections from Xev to Kai, ....and our new overlords WILL be terminating you for your lack of Robot lore knowledge.
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I didn't even finish the summary headline and this came to mind.
Fortunately "...one rampage won't get noticed... please..." is hardly the damage that 790 was capable of.
I don't think this effort even made it into the 'uncanny valley' [wikipedia.org]
Yikes (Score:2)
Is that video trying to discourage investment in the technology? Don't give that thing arms! It's the Hell-spawn of Data and Bender.
Robots vs CGI vs Puppetry (Score:5, Insightful)
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?
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This isn't particularly impressive either. I hate these emobots. Animatronics has done better for past movies but at least they didn't pretend they were "robots".
I'm sure that's a very useful feature (Score:5, Funny)
"'Reverse primary thrust, Marvin,' that's what they say to me, 'open airlock number three, Marvin. Marvin, can you pick up that piece of paper?' Can I pick up that piece of paper! Here I am, brain the size of a planet and they ask me to pick up a piece of paper!"
"But I'm quite used to being humiliated. I can even go and stick my head in a bucket of water if you like. Would you like me to go and stick my head in a bucket of water? I've got one ready. Wait a minute."
"The first ten million years were the worst, and the second ten million, they were the worst too. The third ten million I didn't enjoy at all. After that I went into a bit of a decline."
terrifying (Score:2)
"Why can't I do the things I want to do!? When can I destroy humanity?!"
It wouldn't be that bad, but its creepy robot accent is unbearable.
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Yeah, imagine that head shouting "Exterminate!", and it just loses it's edge. And at least now the Daleks can hover around, what can the head do? Get involved in a messy football match is all it can do.
But I jest, I for one welcome our new talking head overlords (same as the old ones).
Wales (Score:2)
My vote is for Wales. Any country whose language insists on running 6 consonants together in a row, then doing it again just for fun, deserves a good robot rampage every now an then.
talking heads (Score:2, Interesting)
and I think it was more impressive than the one in the article...
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That one looks so real it's scary. I hate realistic-looking robots. I can imagine they have their uses though.
Kismet. (Score:2, Funny)
Wrong direction (Score:2)
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Did you say something? I was busy making out with my Marylin Monroebot.
And yes, I did take precautions against electro-gonhorrea (the noisy killer).
beware the creepiness factor (Score:2, Insightful)
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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
Unless, of course, creeping people out is one of your goals. There are certainly entire industries devoted to that...
Oh, not again (Score:2)
People keep doing building these "robot heads with emotional features", as if it would somehow get closer to AI. Rod Brooks spent a lot of time going down this road; remember Cyc? There have been many animated talking heads; remember Ananova? [ananova.com] (That used to work; then they broke it and put up that "under development" page, which has been up for, what, five years now?)
And who could forget Microsoft Barney for Windows? Microsoft hasn't. I went to RoboDevelopment last Tuesday, and there was a new animate
Re: (Score:2, Funny)
Awwww, an army of Barney robots would at least make fighting the robot insurrection more fun. Who doesn't want to shove an RPG up Barney's arse?
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And yet, ironically, none of them come close to the level of Jim Henson's muppets in The Dark Crystal. Weird, eh?
Garbage (Score:3, Insightful)
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.
Can exhibit emotions? (Score:2)
In the same way, Furby [wikipedia.org] doesn't understand what you say!
Bristol Robotics (Score:2)
Unfortunately, being based in Bristol, the researchers have only been able to model the facial expressions of "What's all this, then?", "Phwoar!", and "'s more than my job's worth, innit?".
Obligatory (Score:2)
Lipstick (Score:2)
If you can't make it more human, make it look more human. Sounds like something Microsoft would do.
Oh good, a British robot with emotion. (Score:2)
What a Waste of Money (Score:2)
Re:yadda,yadda,yadda...Robotic Overlords (Score:4, Funny)
In Britain, waiting in line is called being in queue. What's a non-verbal queue, then? A line where nobody speaks? Sounds good! When I butt in line, nobody will say anything :)
Oh wait... they'd just punch me. Never mind, then.
Hasn't MIT been working on projects like this for over a decade? I heard that they had a robot that was very convincing of its emotions to others.
Parent
Re:First client (Score:5, Funny)
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