This Robot Needs a Hug

itwbennett writes "It has been an interesting week at the Computer Human Interaction (CHI) show in Vancouver, what with all the humans and computers interacting. And none have interacted quite so interestingly as a robot developed by scientists at Japan's Osaka University that can convey physical emotions through a phone call or e-mail system. Its intended use: Hugging the elderly so you don't have to." Warning: the linked video may induce cringing.

Re:

[Cryacin]

No calls.

Uncanny valley?

[srussia]

No, this is the Grand Uncanny Quad-Amputee Friggin' Canyon!

Why do they keep trying this?

[DamienRBlack]

Is there really that big a demand to relay hugs, kisses and so forth over the internet? Who out there really has a need for this product? Isn't email and phone and video chat enough? I just don't get it. Is is a Japanese culture thing? Does it make more sense in their society or do they just like doing weird stuff?

Re:

[dominious]

Does it make more sense in their society

Yes. I believe when a Japanese gets a hug from a robot it's not creepy because the Japanese use their imagination and they are also very open.

Re:

[uninformedLuddite]

The problem with Japanese society is that they respect and care for their elderly and this takes away time they could be spending working for the corporation. Now they can do it from their work cubicle and still be productive. That's why a lot of japanese robotic research is geared towards carer type robots.

Re:

[Alimony Pakhdan]

You have never been to Japan have you?

Re:

[justinmbarnes]

It's not a matter of using imagination, it's how that imagination is used. They can obviously imagine the robot as the person on the other end of the phone call. I'd imagine it as a parasitic alien that is trying to hug the life force out of me.

Re:

[DarwinSurvivor]

This just in, HatfulOfHollow [bash.org] has added limbs and finally become rich and famous!

Japan has a thing for humanity in robots...

[js_sebastian]

Back in 2001 or so I visited a robotics lab at a tokyo university, and was shown some demos. There were several things that seem to be along the same line of thought as the hugginator.

• A "video-conference" system for very low bandwidth applications, meant to be used for customer service in transport systems and the like. It did not transmit images: instead, it recognized your expression (smile, frown, etc) and produced a manga-style depiction of the expression at the other end.
• An experiment on human-com

Re:

[js_sebastian]

hmpf.. slashdot seems to have a very odd interpretation of html lists...

Re:

[KDR_11k]

This is just to get funding for their teledildonics project, of course.

The rest of us would like a way to punch people over the internet but I doubt this robot will enable that.

More like...

[Undead Waffle]

It's intended use: to marry Krieger.

This won't do at all

[SilasMortimer]

When I feel someone up, the only enhancement I want is for it to be less creepy. Less creepy. Can we try for that, Japanese robotics researchers?

One possible benefit, I suppose, is that it might make it less objectionable when I cop a feel in person simply by comparison.

"At least he's not doing it with that... stub thing this time."

Next obvious market idea

[Opportunist]

Invent a service that automatically sends hugs to your relatives you don't give a fuck about so they think you think about them without you having to.

Re:

[Hultis]

so they think you think about them without you having to

I thought that was the whole point of Facebook?

Re:

[Opportunist]

Damn right. How about a FB-App that autosends friend invites and lovely notes to people you friended? That way you could spend your time out and making Friends.

God help us...

[slasho81]

We're getting closer and closer to the advent of the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation.

Venture Bros.

[atari2600a]

Anyone remember the 2 episodes w/ the clones? That.

On topic...

[Lorens]

Some will hug robots? I'll believe that, since some people apparently snuggle up to *cars*

http://cars.failblog.org/2011/05/13/funny-car-photos-taking-it-up-the-tailpipe/ [failblog.org]

Re:

[ArsenneLupin]

Best sentence (apart from the "boy car" image caption...):

If I've just been driving her, I have to wait for the exhaut pipe to cool down...

Ouch!

Never trust robots

[SWroclawski]

Someone should show this video to these elderly folks

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tb2Pzl1U0sY [youtube.com]

Hug Bot

[Anonymous Coward]

LHC is nothing compared to where this will lead. [pbfcomics.com]

Prior art!

[lxs]

By an internet pal of mine. [youtube.com]

Sensing the presence of others

[olau]

This is obviously a prototype, but if you've ever tried keeping a videochat open for a while with speakers on without actually chatting with the other person, the sounds and to some extent the image can in fact create an illusion that your room has grown to encompass the room in the other end. At least, it did that for me once. I've never felt the same kind of illusion with plain phone calls.

I think this is research in somewhat the same idea - try to transfer the presence of others without actually transfer

Hugginator

[roman_mir]

SARAH (weakly, plead-ing)
Just let me go.

REESE (slow, but intense)
Listen. Understand. That Hugginator is out there. It can't be reasoned with, it can't be bargained with...it never stops feel pity, remorse, fear... and it absolutely will not stop. Ever. Until you are hugged.

SARAH (quietly)
Can you stop it?

REESE
Maybe. With these weapons...
I don't know.

Computer Human Interaction?

[FiloEleven]

Back in my day, we called it Human Computer Interaction. What's so special about the computer that it gets to go first now? Hmph!