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14 news posts in Robotics

Featured news

27 Oct 2022

How do we stop ‘robot evolution’ from spiraling out of control? Two essential articles on the future of robotics and AI

By Colm Gorey, Frontiers Science Communications Manager Image: Shutterstock.com Robotics and AI have quickly outgrown as tropes of science fiction and are almost ubiquitous in our daily lives, even if we don’t realize it. Now, Frontiers highlights just some of the latest top articles in this fascinating field. Whether it’s wheeled robots whizzing around city-sized warehouses, or if it’s just a smart assistant in your phone, robotics and AI has quickly become integral technologies in our lives. And while big tech companies and gadget lovers are quick to speak of its enormous benefits, those closely studying the field are calling on more caution. These technologies are working well now, but can we allow them to develop indefinitely? That’s among the questions being asked by some of the largest governmental bodies in the world – such as the EU and UN – who believe stricter rules and regulations are needed to keep technology not only within the realms of rapidly-outdated laws, but make sure they don’t eventually lead to our downfall. To that end, here are some of the latest articles published to Frontiers authored by some of the top researchers in their field as part of the research topic ‘Horizons […]

Featured news

15 Sep 2022

Sharing a laugh: Scientists teach a robot when to have a sense of humor

By Peter Rejcek, science writer ERICA being trained on how to have a sense of humor. Image: Inoue et al No one can really agree on what makes each of us laugh, so designing an artificial intelligence (AI) system with a sense of humor is enormously challenging. Researchers at Kyoto University laughed off the challenge by developing an AI that appropriately detects and responds to human laughter at a shared moment during a conversation. This shared-laughter model is another step toward creating more natural interactions between humans and robots. Since at least the time of inquiring minds like Plato, philosophers and scientists have puzzled over the question, “What’s so funny?” The Greeks attributed the source of humor to feeling superior at the expense of others. German psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud believed humor was a way to release pent-up energy. US comedian Robin Williams tapped his anger at the absurd to make people laugh. It seems no one can really agree on the question of “What’s so funny?” So imagine trying to teach a robot how to laugh. But that’s exactly what a team of researchers at Kyoto University in Japan are trying to do by designing an AI that takes its […]

<p>Reproduced with permission from the parents of the children. Courtesy of Dr Imbernon Cuadrado</p>

Neuroscience

04 Nov 2016

Robotic tutors for primary school children

By Ian Salter, Frontiers Science Writer The use of robotic tutors in primary school classrooms is one step closer according to research recently published in the open access journal Frontiers in Computational Neuroscience. Dr Imbernòn Cuadrado and his co-workers at the Department of Artificial Intelligence in Madrid have developed an integrated computational architecture (ARTIE) for use with software applications in schools. “The main goal of our work was to design a system that can detect the emotional state of primary school children interacting with educational software and make pedagogic interventions with a robot tutor that can ultimately improve the learning experience,” says Luis Imbernòn Cuadrado. Online educational resources are becoming increasingly common in the classroom, although they have not taken into sufficient account that the learning ability of primary school children is particularly sensitive to their emotional state. This is perhaps where robot tutors can step in to assist teachers. Rather than focusing on specific emotions, the researchers first identified three cognitive states (concentrating, distracted and inactive) known to influence the course of learning.  Keyboard strokes and mouse actions of children using educational software were used to predict which of these cognitive states the child is experiencing and subsequently linked […]

<p>Getting the robot to wave. Photo courtesy of Paul Bremner.</p>

Robotics and AI

05 Apr 2016

Gestures improve communication – even with robots

  By Abigail Pattenden, science writer In the world of robot communication, it seems actions speak louder than words. Scientists in the UK have discovered that by getting robot avatars to “talk with their hands,” we understand them as well as we do our fellow human beings.   Avatars have been in existence since the 1980s and today are used by millions of people across the globe. They are big business too: from artificial intelligence to social media and psychotherapy to high-end video games, they are used to sell things, to solve problems, to teach us and to entertain us. As avatars become more sophisticated, and their use in society grows, research is focusing on how to improve communication with them.  Getting your message across with your avatar is more important than ever, and learning how to improve this communication is a big deal. Scientists Paul Bremner and Ute Leonards took on this challenge in a recent study published in Frontiers in Psychology. They built their study around the hypothesis that if avatars were to use “iconic” hand gestures together with speech, we would understand them more easily. Iconic gestures have a distinct meaning, like opening a door or a book, […]

Robotics and AI

30 Oct 2015

Everything that we see or seem: The secrets behind virtual reality

Frontiers Science Hero: Mel Slater from Frontiers on Vimeo. Prof. Mel Slater has always been intrigued by the science that lies behind virtual reality. “I think one of the things that fascinated me about it was the question why people, when they go into a virtual reality even though what they see may not look real, they nevertheless have a strong illusion that what is happening is real and also a strong illusion that they are in the virtual place,” he said. Mel Slater is an ICREA Research Professor at the University of Barcelona, and became Professor of Virtual Environments at University College London in 1997. Slater started working in the area of virtual reality during the early 1990s with the aim of understanding our mindset when it comes to a virtual world. “I set out to try to understand why this illusion happens and what factors we as engineers can introduce into our applications to promote those feelings and realistic responses to virtual reality,” he said. The power of virtual reality Throughout his career, Slater has made several important discoveries. “I was one of the first people in this field who worked in this area of understanding the impact […]