HUMANOID ROBOTS HAVE FEELINGS; CAN THAT BE TRUE?
New Generation of Humanoid Robots
INTRODUCTION
Researchers are working on a new generation of humanoid robots that may change once and for all the way we live. They have developed brand new technologies that could help robots feel and interact with things around them. Sensitivity, expressing emotions, and adapting to environments are three main factors that robots must gain to feel more human.
1. Sensing Technologies:
Sensing things around is the first part of the feeling process. A group of researchers from the University of Tokyo has finally made it; they have manufactured an imitation skin dependent on organic materials "made of carbon chains" that can sense pressure and temperature. The benefits of the organic materials are that they make the skin more bendable and inexpensive to fulfill the market needs. Douglas Weible from Harvard University complimented their research by saying" the materials they are using may not be completely novel, but integration appears to be something new". Future skin will be capable of simulating humidity, strain and other functions. With the sense of touch; sense of vision, hearing, smell, and taste will take their portion from the researcher's studies in the coming years.1
2. Emotional Language:
Making robots capable of expressing emotions is an important way to make it humanlike. Based on the body movements, robots can recognize people and their emotions and respond to them. Even if the same person has changed his pattern, a robot can still recognize him. The developers in the European project, such as Felix Growing, have crossed the limits by teaching robots how to display emotions. They added some complex algorithmic calculations and a network that translates emotional states to robotic language. Making robots effective in social life is what Lola Canamero, coordinator of Felix Growing Project, is planning on. In Paris laboratories, children's reactions were...