Futurist Ian Pearson is convinced that by 2050 the number of robots will exceed the number of inhabitants of this planet. He takes about ten years for robots to learn not only to communicate with people, but also to experience real emotions. Believe Pearson or not - decide for yourself. But here's the fact: already today, robots can perceive human speech and facial expressions and react accordingly, as do robots-waiters or care robots. And the number of smart machines is growing. What will be the society, consisting not only of living people, but also of intelligent machines interacting with them? What happens to us if a robot becomes almost equal to a human? What could be the relationship between these two entities? The answers to these and other similar questions are sought by specialists who combine knowledge in the field of humanities and IT. They call themselves social robotics.
Why are we creating them?
The first thing that comes to mind is that a person has always wanted to make his life easier by entrusting hard and boring work to someone else. The ancient Greek policy clearly demonstrates this: how much time was freed up for creativity and recreation by the free citizens of the city-state, who shifted all the work to the helot slaves! However, the roots of our interest in creating someone intelligent with our own hands are much deeper, says Nadezhda Zilberman from Tomsk State University, a specialist in social robotics:
In the myths of the peoples of the world, a person, as a rule, was created by a certain creator. And, since he himself came out so successfully, it means that there are working technologies for creating a living and intelligent one. And in the myths of almost all cultures, a person tries to apply these technologies and create something similar to himself. This idea underlies all robots, artificial intelligence and artificial life.
In her lectures on robotics, Nadezhda talks about the three main roles assigned to human creations - a slave, a warrior, and, relatively speaking, a friend.
With the first two roles, everything is more or less clear. Slaves are a kind of “two from the casket”, on which mechanical work can be shifted: they build, sweep the street, process documents. Warriors are the same workers, but performing the mechanical work of a military purpose: a magical army will capture the enemy's city without endangering the lives of their conquering masters. This topic has long been developed by military robotics, which, it seems, has already advanced much further than other areas. Attack and reconnaissance drones, sapper robots and fighter robots - for the most part they still work in semi-automatic mode. But more than 30 countries already have such soldiers in their subordination, the robotization of the army is considered an important part of the military industry, which means that the appearance of a full-fledged independent robotic soldier can be expected very soon.
And what is this third role - a friend? This is a being created for relationships where there is no other object or cannot be. This is the girl Snegurochka, who replaced the old people's daughter in a Russian folk tale. These are artificial parents, lovers, friends - creatures that will share our aspirations and our life with us, become part of it.
Initially, the idea of artificial creation did not imply aggression towards the creator, Nadezhda explains. - This topic was introduced into Western culture by romanticism with its rejection of technology, which, as it seemed, would destroy everything human in people. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is a defining phenomenon, from which all these terminators have grown, seeking to take over the world and destroy people. In Eastern culture, the attitude towards robots is completely different, they perceive artificial beings without any fear for their future. And just this third role - the role of relationships - is in the field of view of social robotics.
What is a social robot?
Already today, in Japanese nursing homes, robots are replacing most of the workers. The Japanese are an aging nation, so there are not enough staff to care for the elderly. And then Pepper comes to the rescue - an android robot that takes care of the elderly. He shows the movements of daily gymnastics, massages and encourages patients to move. And his assistants - robots in the form of cute animals, such as the Paro seal or the dog Aibo - provide "psychological comfort": you can hug them, they are always ready to play or calm down.
Such smart machines are called social robots. They interact with people autonomously, without the help of a manipulative master. A social robot can perceive our speech and facial expressions, make decisions, respond to us verbally or by action. Such robots can be cafe waiters, butlers, teachers, nurses and just companions for lonely people. Now the set of functions of "peppers" is limited, including purely physically. For example, a robot will not be able to repeat the movements of a person in a dance with the same ease as a living partner. But progress is happening before our eyes, and robots are improving day by day.
Social robots, by the way, do not have to be humanoid at all, says Zilberman. - The Blossom robot is now being tested in the USA: it is not made of metal or plastic, but of yarn and wood. A "warm" home robot designed to teach autistic children. Such children cannot socialize, do not perceive the behavior of adults, do not copy it. However, they are known to get along well with animals. And suddenly - with robots. So the idea of using a robot as a companion for special children has been in practice for a couple of years, for example, in the UK.
Babysitters and nurses for children and the elderly are generally one of the priority areas of modern robotics. In addition to everyday life, they perform the function of an interlocutor, teacher, mentor. In Finland, robots began teaching foreign languages to younger students in several schools last year. They never get irritated or scream, they are ready to repeat the same thing hundreds of times, they are able to evaluate the work without prejudice. Yes, and the children themselves (according to the observations of the Finns conducting the experiment) are more open with such a teacher, they joyfully join in communication, perceive new information better.
There are a lot of social robots. Five years ago, I spoke about a few examples, but now there are thousands of them, - says Nadezhda. - Robots are becoming part of society, social beings. And we, the people, do not yet know how to react to this.
From a PR idea of a robot to a social creation
The first attempts to create a mechanical creature, that is, a robot, were made by human hands at the end of the 19th century. But so far it has been more of a dream of a robot assistant, a companion robot. “Such a PR campaign of robots as ideas,” Nadezhda shows photos. In the pictures, something similar to the Tin Woodman from Volkov's fairy tale stands with his hand raised and blows smoke from the conditional "mouth". These machines could not do anything else useful, although they remotely resembled people. Sit down and stand up, smoke, wave your hand - that's all their simple arsenal. But someday! “Someday this robot will become your faithful assistant and friend!” - promised advertising posters.
However, the First World War and the ensuing crisis in the economy forced us to forget about the beautiful dreams of "friends". It was urgent to create machines that would take on the hard work in factories. The creators of such devices had to abandon the humanoid image in favor of solving specific instrumental tasks. This is how industrial robots appeared, which do not look like people, but work effectively in production.
And the image of the android robot migrated to the cultural plane - to literature, theater, and the emerging cinema. In 1920, Karel Capek published his science fiction play R.U.R., in which he challenged the audience to think about philosophical questions about freedom, law, and humanity. In this work, robots - factory workers - rebelled against their human creators. By the way, the word “robot” itself became popular thanks to Capek: from his native Czech “robota” is translated as “hard work”.
With the onset of economically prosperous times, the developers faced the question: is it possible to “teach” such a robot to perform some duties not in a factory, but in an ordinary house? Technically possible, the engineers replied. But the industrial robots looked… far from friendly. For a robot to be bought, it must be beautiful and easy to operate. Designers have found a way. The culmination of the "domestication" process is the robot vacuum cleaner. A simple interface, pleasant contours - this is how the development of service robotics began.
Closer to the 90s of the last century, the world returned to the idea that robots can do more than sweep the floors: what if you give them a chance to prove themselves? Technology has come a long way since the 19th century, so why not give it a try?..
A robot waiter, a robot nurse or a robot nanny for children - these machines already involve mutual communication with a person, they are faced with social tasks - to teach, heal, respond to requests.
Today, the question is not how to create such robots, says Nadezhda. - And how to make sure that a person does not get scared, does not turn away, but begins to communicate easily and almost on an equal footing with the machine. If your order in a cafe is taken by a robot, should it look like a bucket with a screen or like a person? What about a robot cop? And if its design is "human", then to what extent?
In the image and likeness - or not?
What is easier: to love a robot, make it look like a person - not just similar, but almost indistinguishable. Like Hiroshi Ishigura does. His creations are almost indistinguishable from living people. And the creator himself says that it is precisely such an “ideal” design that will make us perceive the robot as a social being, and not just a soulless piece of iron.
However, for many people, this similarity, on the contrary, causes an unpleasant feeling. This is how the so-called “uncanny valley effect” manifests itself: android robots, which are too similar to people, can cause in our subconscious the feeling of meeting with something mystical, creepy, a ghost or a golem. Any minor deviation from the norm in facial expressions or movements of such a robot is perceived by a living person with hostility and even fear. This is evidenced by studies conducted back in the 70s of the last century by the Japanese engineer Masahiro Mori, the author of the term "uncanny valley". So it turns out that making robots too humanoid is not an option.
The search for a social interface goes in different directions. One of the most popular robots today is the Paro seal. Its appearance is "sharpened" for its functions: the main task of the robot is a calming effect and positive emotions in patients in hospitals and nursing homes. Well, who refuses to cuddle such a cutie? .. This design solution works almost regardless of gender, age, social experience of a person. But a robot cat cannot perform the functions of, for example, a consultant in a store, much less a teacher, a policeman. This requires other ideas, other designs.
But looks aren't everything. How will you interact with this robot? Will the robot speak like a human, or will there still be a “robo-dialect”? Will he gesticulate? “Any movement, any diode on the head of the robot will affect our attitude towards it, although at its core it is still the same robot vacuum cleaner!” - says our expert.
And again, it seems that the easiest way is to perfectly copy the behavior of a person - and the robot will be perfectly accepted in the society of people. But it turned out that there is nothing more difficult for engineers and programmers, because even people know far from everything about themselves. We are not aware of the reasons for certain actions. But our decisions are based on a huge number of hidden and explicit norms of behavior. It is impossible to equip a robot with everything that we ourselves do not understand. First you need to understand yourself. And here humanitarians come to the aid of techies - sociologists, psychologists, linguists, philosophers.
One Russian company is now experimenting with the introduction of robo-advisers in a bank. And they are seriously studying how visitors, such as grandmothers, will react to one or another design of the robot. That is, all these issues have been resolved for a long time, this is the agenda of today, and not a question of some future, - my interlocutor notes.
Assistant or burden?
It seems that the future with robots may look wonderful. Each person will receive their own Pepper or Sophia, who will care for and love us for who we are. After all, they were made for us. But will the relationship with robots become true friendship or love?
In attempting to answer this question, two independent approaches can be distinguished. One of them is personified by David Levy, author of Love with Robots. The most important thing, he believes, is that we will experience real emotions in these relationships, which means that this is full-fledged love. A close relationship with a robot will help people with disabilities or those who are too modest - those who cannot get a partner among people to realize themselves, - says Nadezhda.
David Levy calls to look at all this optimistically. But there is another point of view. A robot inevitably objectifies a person: feed, measure the temperature, read a book, say a kind word. However, this is not what we might call sincere concern - there are no sacrifices or compromises made by one autonomous person for the sake of another. In a relationship with a robot, you can make sacrifices for it, but such a situation is simply not available for a robot - it's just a machine, and it was created and exists for you, nothing outside of this function is incorporated into it. How can such "one-sided" relationships affect the formation of a person's personality, the development of his high-level social skills? It is still difficult to answer unambiguously, since there are no precedents for research.
And here lies another danger, says Nadezhda. - You are the best, the best, the only one for the robot. The robot catches the smallest changes in your mood and changes the tactics of behavior, minimizing your stress. And people are not like that - it’s difficult with them, you need to constantly adjust yourself with them. And if an adult still somehow understands the bonuses from live communication with other people, will a child raised by a robot ever be able to appreciate these benefits? We are already seeing a movement towards a society of loners who avoid personal communication. This is driven by the development of technology. And with companion robots, this process will go even faster.
And of course, your robot friend will know everything about you. It is also connected to the World Wide Web, it instantly scans your social media profiles, your history of online shopping, banking, surfing... If such a robot is next to a person for a long time, it accumulates information that does not disappear anywhere. And this robot, which knows everything about you, independently makes decisions about your behavior. That is, it begins to control you. And perhaps most people will like it if someone takes responsibility for their lives, for their actions (and for a minority, on the contrary, it will definitely be unpleasant).
While we were discussing whether a robot is a friend or not, these machines began to actively integrate into our lives from a completely unexpected side. It turns out that most employees of large enterprises would not mind a robot boss. People agree to obey robots, obey them. It is not yet clear whether this is good or bad. The task of social robotics is to deal with this issue as well. Studying robots, their influence on people, we learn a lot of new things about ourselves, - concludes Nadezhda Zilberman.
About 30 years ago, many popularizers of science, as well as authors of science fiction works, believed that in our time, robots will actively help people. But the robotization of everyday life, so to speak, is not at all as active as it was thought.
True, robots are still gradually penetrating into our lives. Smart microwaves, smart TVs, robotic vacuum cleaners, all of this already exists and continues to evolve. True, you cannot communicate with such devices, but you would like to get a robot with whom you can talk, right?
And such a robot appeared. We are talking about the Jibo robot, the developers (team - natives of MIT, Massachusetts Institute of Technology) which position it as the first social robot for the family.
What can a robot do?
Thanks to good technical equipment and appropriate software, Jibo is able, for example, to recognize all family members and find their own approach to everyone;
The robot is sensitive to the mood of a person, and behaves accordingly, trying to support a person with a bad mood;
In addition to communication, Jibo can serve as an assistant, reporting an incoming e-mail message or SMS. The robot is equipped with wireless communication modules, and can read information from any device connected to it (at the request of the owner). At the same time, it notifies the “right” people about the messages. In other words, the robot will not confuse the messages sent to the daughter and the father, and will not tell the dad that “your cat is already waiting for you at the club”, for example;
Also, the robot can help in the kitchen, receiving information about a particular dish from the Web (the robot also connects to the Internet, yes). Thus, the recipe can not be read from the book, but asked Jibo about it;
Well, Jibo entertains the owners well, demonstrating their location, making funny faces and playing music. A robot can tell a bedtime story to a child, for example, or tell a funny anecdote to parents.
Technical equipment
Jibo is very well equipped, the developers have taken care of its hardware.
- Housing material: aluminum, ABS plastic, glass;
- Display: LCD HD display;
- Movement: the robot is capable of moving along 3 axes, with rotation (we are talking about the head of the robot, it cannot move itself);
- Sensors: two color stereo cameras, circular sound localization, touch body and display;
- Sound: 2 high-quality speakers, advanced speaker system;
- Backlight: full spectrum LED;
- Communication modules: WiFi and Bluetooth;
- Processor: ARM processor;
- English language;
- Dimensions: height - 28 centimeters, width - 15 centimeters;
- Weight: 3 kilograms.
Of course, the Jibo robot is not yet the robots that Asimov wrote about, with a developed intellect and a positronic brain. Nevertheless, Jibo can communicate with the owner, the device establishes feedback with a person, and tries to adapt as accurately as possible to each person.
Price
Of course, the price of a robot cannot be low (considering at least its equipment and software). The developers valued their efforts at $499. You can order from
Robotic nurses, robotic home assistants, even robotic wives and sexual partners - all this seems to be waiting for us in the near future. People are less and less concerned about the idea of the rise of evil and bloodthirsty machines and more and more eager to make robots their friends. According to some estimates, by 2020 there will be about 100 million personal robots on the planet and “the next five years will lay the foundation for the fundamental changes that robots can bring to our home and everyday life.”
However, it is too early to make loud statements. Those one hundred million are made up mostly of cleaning robots and automatic vacuum cleaners. But recent developments promise much more. Robots are already caring for residents in some nursing homes, becoming pets and housekeepers in hundreds of families (this happens especially often in Japan and Western Europe). These are the so-called social robots, or companion robots - machines capable of imitating human or animal behavior.
Machines that can evoke sympathy and affection. Machines whose purpose is to brighten up human loneliness.
People in developed countries are rapidly aging and becoming increasingly lonely. For example, in the Scandinavian countries, approximately 40% of households today consist of only one person. That is, in a typical Swedish apartment, we will meet a loner with almost the same probability as a family. More and more people are choosing their own single lifestyle, choosing not to commit themselves to long-term relationships in order to find more space and time for themselves.
The American sociologist Eric Kleinenberg noted in his book on this subject:
The masses of people decided on this social experiment because, in their view, such a life corresponds to the key values of modernity - individual freedom, personal control and the desire for self-realization. Living alone gives us the opportunity to do what we want, when we want it and on the terms we set ourselves. Such an existence frees us from the need to take into account the requirements and desires of our partner, allows us to concentrate on what is important for ourselves.
But not everyone chooses this way of life voluntarily and independently. The development of hygiene and medicine has not only extended the lives of millions of people, but also made them lonelier. There are more and more elderly people, and more and more often there is no one to take care of them. Information technology allows us to communicate with anyone at a great distance, but increasingly forces us to stay in front of the screen, instead of communicating with each other in the so-called "real world". And social robots seem to be just another link in the chain. Will they be able to come to the aid of modern loners?
Social robots must be able to recognize and portray human emotions, adapt to human behavior, and change their own behavior patterns. Some robots can already be “educated”: they gradually change and form their character traits depending on how you treat them. They can be sociable and withdrawn, playful and calm. In addition, the robot must be able to distinguish one person from another. It's one thing to have a relationship with the owner, another thing to do with a random guest or passerby.
Such a robot should look like a person, and people are terribly picky creatures. We take into account the previous actions of our acquaintances and treat them differently. If a toaster doesn't care about your personality when it toasts your breakfast bread, then a social robot is social because it takes into account the differences between you and everyone else. To do this, he will need a "theory of mind" - the ability to model the mental state of a person and predict his future actions.
In reality, robots are still very far from these skills. They can talk, plan your schedule, remind you to take medications or appointments, be playmates or perform dances - sometimes much better than people do. But you won't get sympathy from them. Robots don't feel anything.
Therefore, it would be more correct to say that we endow the social qualities of the robot ourselves. Our psyche is arranged in such a way that we easily take what seems to be real. We can easily imagine the pink circle running away from the red triangle as a frightened innocent victim (see the famous Heider-Simmel experiment). Humanizing intelligent machines is, of course, even easier.
Scientists call this a natural tendency to anthropomorphize. Because of this tendency, for example, we imagine God as a gray-haired old man, believe in the evil eye, or attribute the most malicious intentions to the alarm clock when it wakes us up the morning after a party. Recently, psychologists from the University of Chicago found that lonely people humanize animals and technological devices more often and more strongly than people who already have someone to talk to. The authors of the study note that such a human attitude towards “non-humans” can end badly:
Although anthropomorphization is one of the most creative approaches to satisfying the need to communicate, it is difficult to develop a close relationship with an inanimate object. Such a compensatory mechanism may prevent lonely people from taking risky, but potentially more rewarding, steps towards relationships with other people.
Jennifer Bartz Professor of Psychology at McGill University
Psychologists who have studied the interaction of people with chatbots (for example, with the famous ELIZA, which imitates the behavior of a psychotherapist), noted that when talking with robots, people tend to maintain the illusion of live communication, even if they know that they are communicating, in essence, with themselves. For example, asking the “right” questions so as not to drive an unintelligent bot into a stupor.
As far as real, rather than virtual, robots are concerned, the relationships between artificial companions and elderly people trapped in nursing homes are best studied. Overall, scientists acknowledge that companion robots improve overall well-being and reduce feelings of loneliness (see meta-analysis summarizing results from 43 studies). In one comparative study, psychologists found that cute and fluffy robot seals are even more likely to be the subject of conversation with other guests than real dogs, and attract more attention to themselves.
Maybe robots make us less lonely simply because they make us communicate more with each other?
But people who do not live in nursing homes, but in their own apartment, also react positively to companion robots. Moreover, they are strongly attached to them and sometimes prefer to communicate with the robot, instead of interacting with people. Psychologists usually give a model of a robot to a volunteer who agreed to participate in a study for several weeks, and at the end of this period they take it back. And here they often have to face difficulties.
The robot becomes "one's own" for the person. He no longer wants to part with him.
Let's try to think: what is so seductive in communicating with a robot? They are, after all, inanimate and do not feel anything! It's not just about anthropomorphization. Robots, among other things, are more obedient and unobtrusive. They will not burden you with their problems when you have enough of your own problems, but they will simply make coffee or give themselves a hug. And it is not so important that these hugs will give off a little smell of silicone. Before people you are always vulnerable, but before an insensitive robot you can be yourself.
Technology can be seductive if it relieves us of our own vulnerability. As it turns out, we are indeed quite vulnerable. We are lonely, but we suffer from the fear of intimacy. Virtual connections and social robots can offer the illusion of camaraderie without friendly commitment.
But the fundamental human need for live communication, the need to go beyond the limits of one’s own “I”, robots still cannot satisfy. They can be good helpers, good nurses and pets, but they are unlikely to become true friends.
In Spike Jones' Her, a lone writer falls in love with the latest operating system named Samantha. They start a relationship, but in the end the hero finds out that Samantha is more interested in communicating with other operating systems: people only interfere with their continuous development. And then people are left alone. We have to solve human problems ourselves, because robots have their own, more important occupations.
The design of the article used a frame from the film "Ex Machina" (2015).
Robotics does not stand still, and regularly we hear news about interesting developments in this area. Robots walk, drive, crawl, fly, they can look like a person, perform military, domestic and industrial purposes. But of particular interest in recent times are social robots. Their main task, one way or another, is focused on communication and interaction with people, which is much more difficult than performing many other functions. It happens that a person himself has problems communicating with his own kind, and imagine what it is like for a soulless machine to recognize the characteristics of each individual. Realization of such possibility demands huge efforts of developers. In this article, we will look at TOP 7 best social robots.
7th place. R.bot
Unlike the subsequent participants in our TOP, R.bot is a social robot with only partial autonomy. It belongs to the so-called telepresence devices. It is controlled by the operator, to whom the image and sound are transmitted. It also reproduces the voice of the operator, and the image from the webcam also displays on the screen mounted on the body. R.bot is equipped with a speech synthesizer and is able to read texts. It moves with the help of two wheels and can overcome small obstacles in the form of thresholds and cable channels.
Communication between the operator and the robot is provided via the Internet or wireless local area network. Thanks to the camera and the movable head, a good overview of the surrounding space is provided.
R.bot was developed by the domestic "Laboratory of three-dimensional vision". A priori, he was used as a guide, informant or consultant at various events. Also sometimes used in promotions. However, R.bot gives a good opportunity to interact with the outside world. for people with disabilities. In the video, you can see how the injured boy studied at school with the help of R.bot.
6th place. Kirobo and Kirobo Mini
The main purpose of the Japanese social robot Kirobo is entertain and help astronauts. This robot went to the ISS in 2013 and became a full member of the crew until the beginning of 2015, after which it successfully completed its mission.
This cute robot weighs only 1 kg and can perform many useful tasks. It not only processes information in electronic form, but also analyzes speech data, moreover, received in different languages. When conducting a dialogue, Kirobo reacts to the facial expressions, gestures and tone of voice of his interlocutor.
This social robot recognizes both faces and objects. And the speech recognition technology was provided by Toyota. In addition, Kirobo can synthesize speech (so far only in Japanese), store and send data wirelessly.
His brother was created by Toyota. In fact, he is a robotic passenger. He himself is in a sitting position and can travel in a car cup holder.
During the trip, this social robot monitors the facial expressions and emotions of the driver with the help of its camera. Depending on the received data, it reacts in a certain way. For example, if Kirobo Mini notices that the driver is feeling sleepy, he will start chatting loudly. By the way, this kid has proven to be a good conversationalist.
The robot also reacts to the driving style and expresses its opinion with careless and rough driving.
5th place. Zeno R25
The Zeno R25 looks like a high-tech toy. He has a funny hairstyle, a prepossessing face and a futuristic torso. In addition to being able to walk, Zeno R25 can open its mouth and express emotions. This social robot can become good friend for the child. The developers said that he could be a great helper in terms of developing children's speech skills.
Zeno R25 can search the Internet for you, like the notorious Siri, read books, tell jokes and even dance to music. And thanks to his learning ability, he can memorize many games. The developers planned to increase his vocabulary for lively dialogues.
To navigate and interact with the outside world, the Zeno R25 is equipped with in-eye cameras with face recognition, a gyroscope, an accelerometer, and multiple microphones that allow you to recognize people by voice. Of course, this robot, like the others on this list, can recognize different human emotions. Management and adjustment is made by means of the touch screen on a breast of the robot. A lot of sensors on the body allows it to respond to touch.
Today, social robots are actively used for rehabilitation purposes and for working with people with disabilities. Here are the Zeno R25 developers created a special kit for children with autism. Experts note that these guys have a positive trend in development after communicating with such robots.
Unfortunately, this baby could not be introduced into mass production. A fundraiser was opened on Kickstarter for this case, but the developers did not receive the required amount. If the Zeno R25 went on sale, it would cost $2,700.
4th place. Asimo
Honda began developing humanoid robots back in the late 80s. They introduced the first version of the Asimo android robot in 2000. Since then, he has been constantly improving and acquiring new chips. Today he weighs 50 kg and is 130 cm tall.
For a long time, Asimo was able to distinguish people only by special cards, but the latest generation has learned to recognize faces as well. He can do this even while moving, and if he recognizes you, he will call you by name. Manufacturers, first of all, focused on the manufacturability of its robotic body and artificial intelligence. But, nevertheless, Asimo he can carry the title of a social robot.
Although Asimo's communication with a person is not perfect, he can interact well with people, can track their movements, follow them, avoid collisions and greet. Asimo recognizes not only voice commands well, but also gestures. For example, he will understand if you indicate the direction with your hand, or if you want to shake his hand.
To date, Asimo is the most advanced android.
Asimo is the best robotic assistant in everyday life: it can open doors, turn on lights, carry different things. He does an excellent job of bringing a tray of drinks - carefully conveys and does not spill anything.
In general, Asimo is a cool robot that perfectly orients itself in space, interacts with people and is able to perform simple tasks of a consultant in a store, but it still cannot focus on human emotions, so it does not pull to a higher place in our TOP.
3rd place. Nexi
Nexi is one of the first representatives of robotics, which not only understands emotions, but also expresses them well(imitates). This is possible thanks to the moving elements on his face, which have 4 main degrees of freedom and many intermediate ones. The speed of reaction and movement of Nexi's body parts is exactly the same as a human's. The creators attribute their creation to the female gender. By the way, Nexi speaks in a pleasant female voice.
Its main task is to promote research on human-robot interaction.
Nexi's movable are eyes, eyelids, eyebrows, mouth and hands. It is worth noting that today there are already more advanced robots with human-like skin on their faces. But Nexi was one of the most successful pioneers in this regard, and therefore it was she who entered our TOP.
Nexi has a camera in each eye, through which she observes the interlocutor. But instead of ears, she has a microphone built into her forehead. The movement of the robot is provided by a mobile base on two wheels. And her hands can withstand loads up to 3.5 kg. It is worth noting that Nexi's body is very sensitive to touch, to which she properly responds during a conversation.
This social robot managed to get acquainted with the inhabitants of several American nursing homes. Elderly people were very satisfied with such communication.
2nd place. Jibo
Unlike most of its counterparts, the social robot Jibo is not humanoid, but that doesn't make it any less human.
It has a futuristic body in the form of a hemisphere on a pedestal, which can be rotated in any direction. On display with animation the robot can display a rich range of feelings, which is unrealizable for robots with a mechanical physiognomy.
Jibo's advanced software allows you to not only recognize each family member, but also find an approach based on their mood. He is also able to remember habits and adapt to the life of each family member. And the developers themselves position their creation as assistant for the whole family, and call it the world's first social robot.
He is very attentive to the people present, and even noticing the crumbs on your clothes, he is able to make a remark.
In terms of entertainment, Jibo does a pretty good job too. He can dance to music, make funny faces, tell jokes or read fairy tales to children.
Jibo is a great home assistant. Through a wireless connection, it can read the necessary information from any device, informing you of new SMS, VKontakte messages or email. And, of course, thanks to the facial recognition system, he will not pass your message to another family member. You can also send a reply message even if your hands are busy with something.
Conveniently, Jibo can be connected to temperature, lighting and door control systems, if any.
In addition, Jibo is a great assistant in the kitchen, he can find information about the dish you need - just ask. Thus, you do not need to proofread something in a recipe book or dig on the Internet.
Such a miracle costs about 30,000 rubles.
1 place. Pepper
Pepper is a real marvel among humanoid social robots. By facial expressions, voice and gestures, he understands the emotions of the interlocutor. He can not only give answers to questions and ask his own, but also perform certain actions at your request.
His appearance is immediately attractive. Huge "kind" eyes, streamlined elegant design and smooth movement - Pepper has all this to itself even before the start of communication.
For movement, a special wheeled platform is used. For input and output of information on Pepper's chest there is a touch screen. Sensors and microphones are located throughout the body, providing excellent communication with the outside world.
According to the developers, Pepper is the first robot with emotions!
In every house, he can clean up, help with cooking, play the role of a nurse for a child, a watchman, and, of course, a friend.
Pepper is considered an excellent trading consultant. His the ability to determine the emotional state of a person, allows you to choose a specific communication strategy and discover the subject of interest of the buyer. Having determined the interest, he accompanies the client to the right product and, if necessary, answers the right questions.
It is worth considering separately Pepper's learning system. Communicating with people, he studies and remembers their behavior. So he constantly replenishes the experience of the artificial intelligence system. The acquired knowledge is sent to the cloud, from where its other brothers also draw the necessary information. This good-natured robot literally learns from mistakes in communicating with people.
Taken together, Pepper has by far the best opportunity to teach behavior that most closely resembles a human.
