The Heart Robot
by: Taly Weiss August 24, 2008
Do robots need love? Pity? A hug? A cuddle? The Heart Robot, which is half puppet, half robot, was designed by a group of scientists to answer those questions. Within the emotional-social robotics field, the Heart Robot was designed to see what happens when robots react with emotions towards people. “He has sensors that respond to movement, noise and touch, and trigger startlingly human-like responses to being picked up…When he is cuddled he goes limp and floppy in simulated pleasure, his eyes close and his ‘breathing’ and heartbeat slow down…When he is shaken or shouted at, however, he flinches in apparent alarm. His hands clench, his eyes widen and his breathing and heart rate speed up.” The reactions to these robotic behaviours from different people and children vary. Some simply want to hug the Heart robot as though it were a baby, and others prefer to scare it. Interestingly enough, the idea of emotional robots seems to be an all-around trend; The movie WALL-E portrays the concept of a robot with feelings and many scientists worldwide are exploring the impact, effect and utility of artificial emotion.
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Trend Original: Heart Robot
Trend Spotter: Times Online
topics: science, tech & gadgets