Humanoid robots: the face of the future? 0

Her lips curl, her nostrils twitch, and for a moment you would swear she's about to utter a devastating put-down. Who is this woman, and why is she sneering at you?

Relax - it's only K-bot, a humanoid robot that can mimic an impressive repertoire of human facial expressions, including a broad smile, mild distaste, withering scorn and - unless we're misinterpreting this - a distinct if somewhat grotesque come-on.

Sculpted and designed by American PhD student David Hanson of the University of Dallas, Texas, K-bot is capable of 28 facial movements. She also has cameras in her eyes that enable her to recognise and respond to humans. Hanson created her face - laboratory assistant Kristen Nelson was the model - using an electroactive polymer with 24 artificial muscles to control the eyes, facial movement and tilt of the head.

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Young as he is, Hanson has been around. He's worked as a designer, sculptor and robotics developer in the entertainment industry for a variety of clients, including Disney theme parks, and has won many awards for his work.

Although K-bot is not yet able to speak, Hanson intends to add speech synthesis in the near future, using a speaker rather than attempt to replicate a human larynx. He also plans to tweak the software with the intention of simulating a psyche: in theory, K-bot will then “know” how to respond when it observes expressions of human emotion.

She's a big improvement on her predecessor, dubbed Andy the Android, who was capable of just four facial movements (come to think of it, some Hollywood actors have made a fortune with just three expressions).

“This is the face for human robotics,” Hanson told a recent meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Denver, USA. “The human face is the most natural paradigm for human-computer interactions. This is how we will interact with the computers of tomorrow.”

The entire robot, consisting of the face, muscles and tiny motors, weighs just 2kg. It cost under R4 000 to make, and Hanson reckons the cost would come down even further if the robot were mass-produced. The polymer skin is formed from a combination of an elastomer and a foaming agent, providing the appearance and flexibility of skin without the complexity of human tissue.

Hanson suggests K-bot could be a useful tool for scientists researching artificial intelligence: “The goal is to test adaptive intelligence systems that can recognise people and then respond.”

However, Cynthia Breazeal of MIT's media laboratory, builder of the celebrated Kismet robot and a respected researcher into the interaction of humans and socially responsive robots, warns that the interactivity displayed by robots in films such as AI and Star Wars is still a long way off. Science fiction makes things difficult for scientists, she says, because it gives people unrealistically high expectations.

“The goal is to turn these robot faces into a main mass-manufacture technology. As the robots reduce in size and weight, they will become more easily distributed in science laboratories.”

She believes there are countless possible applications for sociable robots, ranging from nursemaids to entertainers, servants and even surrogate friends. Increasingly sophisticated software could also lead to the creation of “virtual humans” in cases where a physical form isn't required - perhaps at ATMs.

Breazeal is fascinated by people's perceptions of humanoid machines: “Robots have always been an intriguing mirror to our own conception of what it means to be a human.” She's currently working on a furry, shamelessly sweet robot named Leonardo, designed and built with the help of animatronics experts.

Hanson is equally upbeat about the potential of sociable robots. For example, he says, they could help people with disorders that affect communication skills, interpreting and responding to facial expressions.

“This could become an extremely useful tool for medical therapies. Say you have somebody with cognitive dysfunction, such as brain damage or autism, and you want to train them nonverbally in a natural way; this machine could present a simplified and codified version of nonverbal interaction.”

K-bot's creator believes the basic head unit is destined to become a platform for experiments with other technologies such as artificial muscles. “You could distribute these things to labs all around the world. Then you would have a standardised humanoid intelligence platform that can be integrated with locomotion robots and natural language processors.

“You could then begin to knit together all the various components of artificial intelligence into a cohesive, integrated humanoid emulation robot. But fundamentally you have to have a good face, or you will not relate to it.”

And therein lies the rub. What constitutes a “good” face? A smile, a warm expression in the eyes, well-proportioned features? What about skin colour and texture? Could we ever come to love the Terminator?

This is exactly what researchers at Carnegie Mellon University in the US are trying to determine. Their Project on People and Robots seeks the optimum design for a robot head, taking into account the countless tiny cues that make all the difference. To this end they've designed and built a reconfigurable humanoid robot head that allows them to conduct experiments with a range of facial features and dimensions. It's possible to add or remove face parts and manipulate proportions to achieve various effects, creating very different robot faces that can be used as variables in a variety of experiments. For example, they might look at the impact of cold, silver lips versus soft, pink lips when analysing the perception of gender.

Pupil distance and eyeball size can be shifted between three variables, altering the face from a “stern predator” robot with narrow eyes to a “youthful and naïve” robot with large, widespread eyes. Finally, forehead and jaw pieces of the robot face can be replaced with larger versions to manipulate the overall proportions of the face. Together these variables allow the researchers to create a variety of robot face effects.

Okay, but what makes a robot head appear human? Apparently the three features that most influence the perception of humanness are the nose, eyelids and mouth. The total number of features on a robot's head is also significant in our perception of its humanness: the more features, the more human-like. Although the proportions of human heads and the distribution of features are fairly similar across cultures and races, this is not the case for robots, which come with a variety of heads ranging from tall and narrow to squat and wide. Interestingly, the wider a robot's head, the more machine-like it is perceived. The taller the robot head, the more human it seems. Tell that to the Terminator.

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A FEW MORE ROBOT STORIES....

‘C'mon, Kismet… say you love me'

Kismet's physical features, including big blue eyes, lips, ears and eyebrows, are patterned after features known to elicit a caregiving response from human adults. The eyes, in particular, are actually sensors that allow the robot to glean information from its environment, such as whether something is being jiggled next to its face.

Kismet can then respond to such stimuli - for example, move its head back if an object comes too close - and communicate a number of emotion-like processes (such as happiness, fear and disgust). The robot's features, behaviour and “emotions” work together so it can “interact with humans in an intuitive, natural way”, says its inventor, Dr Cynthia Breazeal. “For example, if an object is too close for the robot's cameras to focus on, Kismet will back away. A withdrawal response is a strong social cue for the human to back away.”

Kismet, she notes, is the exact opposite of Hal, the menacing robot in the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey. “Hal is simply a glowing red light with no feedback as to what the machine is thinking. That's why it's so eerie. Kismet, on the other hand, both gives and takes feedback to communicate.

”I think people are often afraid that technology is making us less human. Kismet is a counterpoint to that - it really celebrates our humanity. This is a robot that thrives on social interactions.”

To make Kismet as lifelike as possible, Breazeal and her colleagues not only incorporated findings from developmental psychology, but also invited the comments of cartoon animators. “How do you make something that's not alive appear lifelike? That's what animators do so well.”

The proverbial wizard behind the curtain (or in this case, a wall) is a bank of some 15 computers that process software programs allowing the robot to perceive its environment, analyse what it finds, and react. In experiments, the researchers have been exploring how the robot interacts with people who aren't familiar with it.

Results have been encouraging. For example, many of the people who've met Kismet have told Breazeal that the robot has a real presence. “It seems to really impact them on an emotional level, to the point where they tell me that when I turn Kismet off, it's really jarring. That's powerful.”

Please don't swat this fly

American engineers aiming to build a robotic fly little bigger than a 1c coin have attained a major milestone with the creation of a tiny wing that flaps like a real fly wing and generates lift.

The achievement brings them closer to their goal of having, possibly by the end of this year, a robot weighing a tenth of a gram - that's less than the weight of a paper clip - that lifts off the ground and hovers.

Says Ronald Fearing, professor of electrical engineering at the University of California and the principal investigator for the project: “The complicated thing for us has been to build a wing mechanism that can both flap and rotate simultaneously at 150 times per second, the same speed as a fly's wings beat. What we've shown is that we've got force in at least one direction, which is an important milestone.”

A robotic fly such as this, which the team calls a micromechanical flying insect or MFI, could be used in search and rescue or reconnaissance, says Fearing.

Fearing and his team have miniaturised many pieces of the MFI, including the motors. The most recent achievement was a wing-drive thorax composed of thin sheets of stainless steel that, when cut and folded into “beams”, turn out to be extremely strong. Two hinged beams are attached as struts to each wing, with a piezoelectric motor driving them. When they move together, the wing flaps; when they move out of sync, the wing rotates.

Machines also have feelings, you know

Irish artificial intelligence specialists Intelligent Earth recently demonstrated a robotic head that is reputed to determine the sex of the person it's looking at, and even gauge the subject's attractiveness.

Key to this critical skill is a version of the company's new Gender Profiling Technology (GPT), dubbed the “Sex Machine”. The robot itself, named Doki, is seen here being friendly with Intelligent Earth's Anne McCluskey.

Doki incorporates two cameras, two motion sensors, one chemical sensor, one speaker and is awaiting the addition of two microphone “ears.”

Says managing director David Cumming: “Perhaps the most controversial aspect of what we have developed is that the software can actually scientifically rate the attractiveness of females. It examines a number of facial characteristics to determine what sex someone is, so the more classically feminine a woman looks then the quicker it will decide what sex they are.

“Research has shown that a woman's attractiveness directly relates to her femininity, so we can also use this reading as a measure of a woman's attractiveness to men. Fortunately for us men, this system does not apply because a male's attractiveness to women is far more complex, being based less on looks alone.”

If you'd like to try out the company's gender recognition software with your own Web-cam, visitwww.intelligent-earth.com.

Meet Banryu, man's best friend

Tmsuk, a small robotics firm from Kitakyushu, Japan, and electronics giant Sanyo have developed an improved version of their home-robot Banryu, meaning “guard-dragon” (as distinct from guard dog).

They plan to launch it to the public later this year. Banryu resembles an ancient reptile with a futuristic twist. Its speed has been increased to 15 metres a minute, which should be more than fast enough for a home robot designed to travel in confined spaces. It's also capable of crossing gaps of more than 10 cm, using sensors on its legs to measure the height of obstacles.

A new feature is an odour sensor that's capable of detecting the faint “burnt scent” that's known to occur before a fire breaks out.