Feelix Growing
Encyclopedia
Feelix Growing is a research project, started on December 1, 2006, that is working to design robot
s that can detect and respond to human emotion
al cues. The project involves six countries and 25 roboticist
s, developmental psychologists
and neuroscientists
.
The aim of the project was to build robots that "learn
from humans and respond in a socially and emotionally appropriate manner". The robots are designed to respond to emotional cues from humans and use them to adapt their own behavior. The project designers wanted to facilitate integration of robots into human society so that they could more easily provide services. The project aims to create robots that can "recognize" a given emotion, such as anger
or fear
, in a human, and adapt its behavior to the most appropriate response after repeated interactions. Thus the project emphasizes development over time.
Robots are expected to be able to read emotions by picking up on physical cues like movement of body and facial muscles, posture
, speed of movement, eyebrow position, and distance between the human and the robot. Project participants want to design the robots to detect those emotional cues that are universal to people, rather than those specific to individuals and culture
s.
The robots are made not only to detect emotions in people but also to have their own. According to Dr. Lola Cañamero, who is running the project, "Emotions foster adaptation to environment, so robots would be better at learning things. For example, anything that damages the body would be painful, so a robot would learn not to do it again." Cañamero says that the robots will be given the equivalent of a system of pleasure
and pain.
The robots will have artificial neural network
s. Rather than building complex hardware
, the project coordinators plan to focus on designing software and to use mostly "off the shelf" hardware that is already available. The only part they plan to build themselves are heads with artificial faces capable of forming facial expression
s.
The scheme for 2.5 million euros is financed by the European Commission
(the executive body of the European Union
) and is set to last for three years. Project participants hope to have a model of robot that can be used in homes and hospitals by the scheduled end date of the project.
The name Feelix is derived from the words feel, interact, and express.
Robot
A robot is a mechanical or virtual intelligent agent that can perform tasks automatically or with guidance, typically by remote control. In practice a robot is usually an electro-mechanical machine that is guided by computer and electronic programming. Robots can be autonomous, semi-autonomous or...
s that can detect and respond to human emotion
Emotion
Emotion is a complex psychophysiological experience of an individual's state of mind as interacting with biochemical and environmental influences. In humans, emotion fundamentally involves "physiological arousal, expressive behaviors, and conscious experience." Emotion is associated with mood,...
al cues. The project involves six countries and 25 roboticist
Roboticist
A roboticist designs, builds, programs, and experiments with robots. Since robotics is a highly interdisciplinary field, roboticists often have backgrounds in a number of disciplines including computer science, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, and computer engineering...
s, developmental psychologists
Developmental psychology
Developmental psychology, also known as human development, is the scientific study of systematic psychological changes, emotional changes, and perception changes that occur in human beings over the course of their life span. Originally concerned with infants and children, the field has expanded to...
and neuroscientists
Neuroscience
Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system. Traditionally, neuroscience has been seen as a branch of biology. However, it is currently an interdisciplinary science that collaborates with other fields such as chemistry, computer science, engineering, linguistics, mathematics,...
.
The aim of the project was to build robots that "learn
Learning
Learning is acquiring new or modifying existing knowledge, behaviors, skills, values, or preferences and may involve synthesizing different types of information. The ability to learn is possessed by humans, animals and some machines. Progress over time tends to follow learning curves.Human learning...
from humans and respond in a socially and emotionally appropriate manner". The robots are designed to respond to emotional cues from humans and use them to adapt their own behavior. The project designers wanted to facilitate integration of robots into human society so that they could more easily provide services. The project aims to create robots that can "recognize" a given emotion, such as anger
Anger
Anger is an automatic response to ill treatment. It is the way a person indicates he or she will not tolerate certain types of behaviour. It is a feedback mechanism in which an unpleasant stimulus is met with an unpleasant response....
or fear
Fear
Fear is a distressing negative sensation induced by a perceived threat. It is a basic survival mechanism occurring in response to a specific stimulus, such as pain or the threat of danger...
, in a human, and adapt its behavior to the most appropriate response after repeated interactions. Thus the project emphasizes development over time.
Robots are expected to be able to read emotions by picking up on physical cues like movement of body and facial muscles, posture
Posture
Posture or posturing may refer to:In humans* Posture * Neutral spine or good posture* Human position* Abnormal posturing, in neurotrauma* Posturography, in neurology* Posture and occupational healthIn biology...
, speed of movement, eyebrow position, and distance between the human and the robot. Project participants want to design the robots to detect those emotional cues that are universal to people, rather than those specific to individuals and culture
Culture
Culture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...
s.
The robots are made not only to detect emotions in people but also to have their own. According to Dr. Lola Cañamero, who is running the project, "Emotions foster adaptation to environment, so robots would be better at learning things. For example, anything that damages the body would be painful, so a robot would learn not to do it again." Cañamero says that the robots will be given the equivalent of a system of pleasure
Pleasure
Pleasure describes the broad class of mental states that humans and other animals experience as positive, enjoyable, or worth seeking. It includes more specific mental states such as happiness, entertainment, enjoyment, ecstasy, and euphoria...
and pain.
The robots will have artificial neural network
Neural network
The term neural network was traditionally used to refer to a network or circuit of biological neurons. The modern usage of the term often refers to artificial neural networks, which are composed of artificial neurons or nodes...
s. Rather than building complex hardware
Hardware
Hardware is a general term for equipment such as keys, locks, hinges, latches, handles, wire, chains, plumbing supplies, tools, utensils, cutlery and machine parts. Household hardware is typically sold in hardware stores....
, the project coordinators plan to focus on designing software and to use mostly "off the shelf" hardware that is already available. The only part they plan to build themselves are heads with artificial faces capable of forming facial expression
Facial expression
A facial expression one or more motions or positions of the muscles in the skin. These movements convey the emotional state of the individual to observers. Facial expressions are a form of nonverbal communication. They are a primary means of conveying social information among humans, but also occur...
s.
The scheme for 2.5 million euros is financed by the European Commission
European Commission
The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union....
(the executive body of the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
) and is set to last for three years. Project participants hope to have a model of robot that can be used in homes and hospitals by the scheduled end date of the project.
The name Feelix is derived from the words feel, interact, and express.
See also
- Affective computingAffective computingAffective computing is the study and development of systems and devices that can recognize, interpret, process, and simulate human affects. It is an interdisciplinary field spanning computer sciences, psychology, and cognitive science...
- Developmental roboticsDevelopmental roboticsDevelopmental Robotics , sometimes called epigenetic robotics, is a methodology that uses metaphors from neural development and developmental psychology to develop the mind for autonomous robots. The focus is on a single or multiple robots going through stages of autonomous mental development...
- Evolutionary roboticsEvolutionary roboticsEvolutionary robotics is a methodology that uses evolutionary computation to develop controllers for autonomous robots. Algorithms in ER frequently operate on populations of candidate controllers, initially selected from some distribution. This population is then repeatedly modified according to...
- Robot softwareRobot softwareRobot software is the coded commands that tell a mechanical device what tasks to perform and control its actions. Robot software is used to perform tasks and automate tasks to be performed. Programming robots is a non-trivial task...
External links
- Feelix Growing homepage. Retrieved on March 4, 2007.
- Evan Blass. February 23, 2007. Researchers teaching robots to read emotional cues, sense our fear Engadget.com. Humorous post to a list about the project. Retrieved on March 4, 2007.
- Louis Ramirez. February 23, 2007. Feelix Growing Project Looking to Build Robots with Attitude Gizmodo.com. Humorous post to a list about the project. Retrieved on March 4, 2007.