Robot

Topic: Can robots replace human beings

1.To Make a Social Robot, Key Is Satisfying the Human Mind

ScienceDaily (Feb. 3, 2012) — After years of existing only in fiction, social robots are finally being designed that can more closely emulate (模仿、效仿)how people express themselves, interact and learn – and doing so while performing jobs like teaching social behavior to children with autism（孤独症） or helping stroke patients with their physical rehabilitation exercises.复健

Recently, The Kavli Foundation brought together three pioneers in Human-Robot Interactions to discuss these advancements, as well as the upcoming technological hurdles. What they say is that, while there are many challenges ahead, the biggest remains getting the robots to match the needs and expectations of the human mind. “How we interact with embodied machines is different than how we interact with a computer, cell phone or other intelligent devices,” says Professor Maja Matarić, University of Southern California. “We need to understand those differences so we can leverage what is important.”

A director of USC’s Center for Robotics and Embedded Systems, Matarić has developed social robots for use in a variety of therapeutic roles. According to Matarić, one of the keys for a successfully designed social robot is considering not only how it communications verbally, but physically through facial expressions and body language. Also important: embedding the right personality. “We found that when we matched the personality of the robot to that of the user, people performed their rehab exercises longer and reported enjoying them more.”

Another key is matching a robot’s appearance to our perception of its abilities. Ayse Saygin is an assistant professor at the University of California San Diego and faculty member of the Kavli Institute of Brain and Mind. Last year, Saygin and her colleagues set out to discover if what they call the “action perception system” in the human brain is tuned more to human...