Robot learns about body language

If there is one thing that robots need to do in order to enter the uncanny valley deeper than ever before, they would need to pick up the nuances of a human’s body language. Yes sir, that is right – robots still have no idea on how to figure out the nitty gritty of our body language. After all, it is said that what we communicate is just 30% effective through speech, the bulk of the remainder go through body language. A research scientist at Willow Garage is currently hoping to imbue robots with basic etiquette lessons, including making way in an elevator whenever someone else wants to get in.

It would be a real leap in the artificial intelligence world if robots of the future are able to pick up all the small details that, well, make us human. After all, androids in movies like Alien and Star Trek could easily fool us into thinking that they were really humans, until one sees the innards of the particular android being full of wires, bolts and nuts. Having said that, can robots be taught to lie, and when they do, will they also send out signals unwittingly, such as touching the ear or nose?

Edwin Kee
Categories: Robots
Tags: Robot