jan 1, 2000 - First “Sociable” Robot Designed to Provoke and React to Emotions

Description:

Cynthia Breazeal believes that if we are truly going to work alongside robots, to trust them and invite them into our homes, robots will need to be able to read people’s emotions and appear to have a personality. With this in mind, she set to work creating Kismet, a robotic head designed to provoke — and react to — emotions. Twenty-one motors controlled an expressive pair of yellow eyebrows, red lips, pink ears and big blue eyes, allowing Kismet to express a range of emotions, from happy to bored. Audio sensors and algorithms picked up vocal tone, so the robot would look downcast if you yelled at it, or curious if you spoke gently. With Kismet, Breazeal proved the stickiness and appeal of a robot that has charm — laying the groundwork for the many voice assistants like Alexa, Siri and Google Home that are now colonizing the world’s homes

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