HumanRobotInteraction
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MIT's Brainput reads your mind to make multi-tasking easier
With so much information readily available at our fingertips, a multitude of devices to access it from and an increasing outside demand for our divided attention, it's easy to short-circuit on the productivity front. But there's a bright spot on the horizon as emerging research out of MIT is poised to help offload the burden shouldered by our overtaxed grey matter with a much needed and intuitive assist from human-robot systems. The Brainput project -- as the collaborative effort is known -- combines near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) with an input system designed to read changes in a user's brain state and translate those signals into an adaptive multi-tasking interface. Sounds like heady stuff, but if successfully implemented into high-stress environments like air traffic control, the low-cost, experimental tech could go a long way to boosting individual performance and reducing overall stress levels. For now, the team still has a ways to go before the system, presently capable of interpreting three distinct mental states, could make its way into end user applications. Curious for a more in-depth, jargony journey through the project's ins and outs? Then click on the source below for your daily dose of scientific head candy.
Study shocker: babies think friendly robots are sentient
There's certainly been no shortage of studies involving humans' interaction with robots, but a team of researchers from the University of Washington's Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences have now made one of the most shocking discoveries to date: babies can be tricked into believing robots are sentient. They made this finding by acting out a skit with a remote-controlled robot in which the robot behaves friendly with its human counterpart. Following the skit, they left the baby alone with the robot and found that in 13 out of 16 cases the baby followed the robot's gaze, which suggests the baby believed it was sentient. In contrast, babies only interacted with the robot in 3 of 16 cases when they were simply left alone with it without first seeing it interact with a human. What does it all mean? Well, it seems that a robot's human-like appearance is less important than its behavior when it comes to establishing trust -- or that all the robots need to do to take over is get us while we're young. One of the two.
Tweenbots project finds people really do care about robots, for now
We've already seen a fair bit of evidence suggesting that humans can quickly form bonds with robots, and it looks like ITP's Kacie Kinzer has now thrown some additional, adorable fodder into the mix. Apparently, she's spent the past few months sending a robot, or "Tweenbot," aimlessly wandering through New York's Washington Square Park in the hope that passers-by would take time from their busy day to help guide it from one corner of the park to the other -- or at least point it in the right direction. As you may be pleased to know, it turns out that plenty of folks were more than happy to help out the little bot, and it was even able to complete its journey in as little as little as 42 minutes with the help of 29 people. Of course, no one sends a smiling cardboard robot out into the wild without capturing a bit of video, so head on past the break for it, and hit up the link below for glimpse at some future Tweenbots.[Via MAKE]
Haptic Creature aims to help humans interact with robots
There's certainly no shortage of efforts out there aimed at improving our interaction with robots, but this latest project from the University of British Columbia is a bit different than most, with it focusing exclusively on haptics as a means of making our relationships with robots more "emotionally rewarding." To that end, UBC's Steve Yohanan created what he calls a "Haptic Creature," a robot rabbit that is designed to mimic the interactions a person has with their pet -- namely, by responding when it's touched or stroked by making breathing movements, inaudible purring vibrations, or by moving its ears. That apparently has already proven to be quite successful in preliminary tests, with those simple responses able to "elicit a range of emotions in humans."[Via Futurismic]
Researchers find folks prefer robots that engage in small talk
While it doesn't exactly come as much of a surprise, a team of researchers from ATR Laboratories in Kyoto, Japan have found that people are more accepting of robots if they engage in a little small talk during conversations, as opposed to leaving unnerving silences that make folks unclear of their intentions. The researchers also found that of the 38 people surveyed, most were willing to accept delays in responses of one or two seconds, but that they much preferred if the robot threw in a "well" or "er" to fill the gap if it was taking any longer for them to muster up an answer. Of course, as we all know, just because a robot shoots the breeze with you doesn't mean it's your friend, so you may want to be careful what you wish for.
