14 DAY TRIAL // Robots are more and more used as a way to improve productivity and support for the nation's changing lifestyles and Japan knows it better.
And, since much of human communication is nonverbal, researchers at Japan's National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT) have developed a freaky skinless Terminator -like autonomous humanoid robot that they say can recognize and use body language.
As reported in an October 24 press release, NICT got inspiration from research in neuroscience, cognitive science and psychology to create a form of android that relies on body language. This basically means that it uses only gestures and touch in order to perform effective communication with humans.
As Pinktentacle says: "When used in conjunction with (or instead of) spoken communication, the robot's body language aims to simplify communication with people likely to have trouble interacting with robots, including children, the elderly, the computer-illiterate, and people who speak other languages. NICT researchers hope the technology behind the droid's "universal communication" skills will one day be put to practical use in robots that can work in the home or assist with rescue operations when disaster strikes".
But most of the droid's body language skills are due in large part to technology that allows it to perform some human-like actions like observing, recognizing and remembering other human behaviors.
Besides that, NICT's robot is said to be learning some realistic body language by watching others. It does this much like children, who learn nonverbal communication by watching others. Not to mention it can even mimic the observed behavior with natural human-like motions.
The smart robot can also create 3D maps of each body it observes, and it automatically memorizes the map that allows the robot to remember how people and their bodies look, even when viewing them from different angles. The robot comes equipped with a delicate force control mechanism for precise motion and safe physical interaction with other humans.
NICT's press release doesn't give too many details about what exactly this robot is capable of doing, so we do not know for sure what it can do when in action. I mean can it show the finger to other drivers while being in traffic jams? Can it perform the chicken dance? Can it??
Who knows, maybe NICT will hopefully answer these questions and more at the robot's official release on October 29. And doesn't it look like the Terminator?