Sociable machines

a small bot study case

Javier | Helen

final projectProject Context

… are natural and intuitive for people to

communicate with and to learn from [Breazea,

2000]

… are able to generate a flexible and dynamic

interaction that is tangible, affective, and social

[Brooks et al, 2004]

… are virtual minds that are able to have a

physical interaction with the environment.

”If we want computers to be genuinely intelligent

and to interact naturally with us, we must give

computers the ability to recognize, understand,

even to have and express emotions” [Picard,

1997].

• Leonardo, MIT media Lab

• Wall-E, Disney / Pixar

final projectProposal

To build a robot which is able to interact with a

user in a somehow natural and intuitive way.

This under the big umbrella of building embodied

technologies which interact with people as a

learning companion.

hardware

Software

design

final projectHardware

final project

Emotions

Software

Tutor

final projectDesign of the robot

“.. can say his own name, beep and toot, but not

much else... this robot who does most of his acting

with his eyes, hands and caterpillar-tracked robot

body, conveying fear, loneliness and joy largely

without talking…”

Pittsburgh Tribune, about Wall-E movie 2008

final projectDesign of the system

1, 3, 5, …

The tutor system present Number pattern

extrapolation task. The student interacts with the

system using tangible elements (fiducials) and

receive feedback through the companion which is

able to express emotions.

Two more

examples

The rule

sentence

The answer

final projectModules

1, 3, 5, …

final projectTesting

expresions

reaction

NOT human

NOT voice

ONLY sound

final projectDemo