- THE first robot that can sense and show
emotions is being developed as the ultimate interactive toy, writes <mailto:mprigg@dircon.co.uk
Mark Prigg.
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- The machine has been christened Kismet
by its creator Cynthia Breazeal (both are pictured above right). She claims
it will lead to toys that grow up and develop at the same time as children,
giving them a mechanical best friend.
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- The robot uses two high-resolution cameras
and a sound sensor to interact with a "care giver". It has eyes,
eyelids, a mouth and ears to allow it to show expressions. Emotions such
as fear, anger and sadness have been programmed into the machine, and it
can display these if it detects the correct conditions.
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- Breazeal says the emotions are easily
discernible by users, as they are based on the way human faces show emotions.
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- "One of the aims of this project
is to find a way for robots to interact with us in a more natural way.
Using a face similar to our own is obviously an easy way of achieving that.
Users don't need to learn anything new," she says.
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- Kismet is an attempt to model the learning
processes of a baby, particularly the development of a proto-language,
the babbling that is produced by a infant before it can manage real words.
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- According to Breazeal, a robot that can
actually learn a language in the same way as a baby is still many years
off, but she hopes Kismet may develop its own proto-language.
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- "One of the things that happens
in a baby's development is that these babbles become a form of communication
between the baby and mother. It's not a language as such, but the mother
learns what the baby wants. We hope to do the same with Kismet."
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- Researchers are still not sure how babies
develop a sense of language. However, Breazeal hopes the software being
developed for Kismet will shed light on the process because the robot should
learn in the same way as a baby.
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- Although much of the artificial intelligence
software that drives Kismet is still being developed, the robot already
has some basic emotions.
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- "The driving force behind the software
for Kismet is the idea that the robot has to be contented, so it has a
kind of happiness quota built in. It is designed to act just like a baby,
which means the user doesn't always know how to react. For instance, if
a baby cries you don't always know what is wrong, and it's exactly the
same with Kismet. If it appears unhappy, it may want you to talk to it,
play with it or even leave it alone so that it can go to sleep.
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- "If Kismet doesn't get enough sleep,
then it starts to get crotchety. If it still can't sleep it can get angry
with the user - a kind of robot tantrum, I guess," says Breazeal.
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- "Every Kismet will be different,
and take on some of its owner's personality - it has to learn everything
it knows from its owner. Obviously, the trend now is for high-tech toys
and virtual pets, so Kismet may be used in that way."
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- However, Breazeal hopes Kismet may also
affect the way everybody interacts with robots in the future.
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- "We want to get Kismet to learn
from its owner. The way that babies learn is by associating certain actions
with events. For instance, if they cry a certain way they know they will
be fed. If we can get a robot to use the same learning process, they will
be easier to interact with."
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- Within a year Breazeal believes she will
have finished developing the software that allows Kismet to learn a whole
range of emotions from its owner, rather than rely on pre-programmed emotions.
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