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Three categories of humanlike robots: humanoid robot Robovie II (left: developed by ATR Intelligent Robotics and Communication Laboratories), android Repliee Q2 (middle: developed by Osaka University and Kokoro corporation), geminoid HI-1 and its human source (right: developed by ATR Intelligent Robotics and Communication Laboratories)
Source publication
If we could build an android as a very humanlike robot, how would we humans distinguish a real human from an android? The answer to this question is not so easy. In human-android interaction, we cannot see the internal mechanism of the android, and thus we may simply believe that it is a human. This means that a human can be defined from two perspe...
Contexts in source publication
Context 1
... human-robot interaction studies have been neglecting one issue: the "appearance versus behavior problem." We empirically know that appearance, one of the most significant elements in communication, is a crucial factor in the evaluation of interaction (See Figure 1). The interactive robots developed so far had very mechanical outcomes that do appear as "robots." ...
Context 2
... far, several androids have been developed. Repliee Q2, the latest android 9 , is shown in the middle of Figure 1. Forty-two pneumatic actuators are embedded in the android's upper torso, allowing it to move smoothly and quietly. ...
Context 3
... this prototype was aimed for interaction experiments, it lacks the capability to walk around; it always remains seated. Figure 1 shows the resulting robot (right) alongside the original person, Dr. Ishiguro (author). Figure 10 shows the teleoperation interface prototype. ...
Context 4
... 1 shows the resulting robot (right) alongside the original person, Dr. Ishiguro (author). Figure 10 shows the teleoperation interface prototype. Two monitors show the controlled robot and its surroundings, and microphones and a headphone are used to capture and transmit utterances. ...
Context 5
... the robot is "speaking," it shows different micro-movements than when "listening" to others. Such automatic robot motions, generated without operator's explicit orders, are merged and adjusted with conscious operation commands from the teleoperation interface ( Figure 11). Alongside, the geminoid server gives the transmitted sounds specific delay, taking into account the transmission delay/jitter and the start-up delay of the pneumatic actuators. ...
Citations
... As argued in [49], [50], the degree of human likeness can also affect moral judgements. The so-called android science research program [51], [52], [53] is based on the assumption that robots endowed with high degrees of human likeness may be useful to study human social cognition and the dynamic of human-robot coordination. This is only a small part of the literature showing the importance of human likeness in the study of human-robot interaction and the design of interactive robots (see also [54] on this topic). ...
It has often been argued that people can attribute mental states to robots without making any ontological commitments to the reality of those states. But what does it mean to 'attribute' a mental state to a robot, and what is an 'ontological commitment'? It will be argued that, on a plausible interpretation of these two notions, it is not clear how mental state attribution can occur without any ontological commitment. Taking inspiration from the philosophical debate on scientific realism, a provisional taxonomy of folk-ontological stances towards robots will also be identified, corresponding to different ways of understanding robotic minds. They include realism, non-realism, eliminativism, reductionism, fictionalism and agnosticism. Instrumentalism will also be discussed and presented as a folk-epistemological stance. In the last part of the article it will be argued that people's folk-ontological stances towards robots and humans can influence their perception of the human-likeness of robots. The analysis carried out here can be seen as encouraging a 'folk-ontological turn' in human-robot interaction research, aimed at explicitly determining what beliefs people have about the reality of robot minds.
... This article analyzes human-android interactions as an emerging aspect of android science within an interdisciplinary research framework that originates in Japan (MacDorman and Ishiguro 2006;Ishiguro and Nishio 2007). The android science developed by professor and roboticist, Hiroshi Ishiguro, argues that when we engage with an android robot that possesses human-like and animate characteristics, we react and behave as if it is human. ...
... In the following profoundly significant piece of self-refection, Prof. Ishiguro describes the interaction between him and an android (built and programed as his twin in terms of appearance and behavior) (Ishiguro and Nishio 2007): ...
Using anthropological theory, this paper examines human–android interactions (HAI) as an emerging aspect of android science. These interactions are described in terms of adaptive learning (which is largely subconscious). This article is based on the observations reported and supplementary data from two studies that took place in Japan with a teleoperated android robot called Telenoid in the socialization of school children and older adults. We argue that interacting with androids brings about a special context, an interval, and a space/time for reflection and imagination that was not there before. During the interaction something happens. There is adaptive learning and as a result, both children and older adults accepted Telenoid, and the children and older adults accepted each other. Using frames of play and ritual, we make sense and ‘capture’ moments of adaptive learning, and the feedback that elicits a social response from all study participants that results in self-efficacy and socialization. While “ritual” refers to the application of what has been learned and “play” means that there are no obvious consequences of what has been learned. This analysis illuminates new understanding about the uncanny valley, cultural robotics and the therapeutic potential of HAI. This has implications for the acceptance of androids in ‘socialized roles’ and gives us insight into the subconscious adaptive learning processes that must take place within humans to accept androids into our society. This approach aims to provides a clearer conceptual basis and vocabulary for further research of android and humanoid development.
... Jednym jest jak najdokładniejsze odtworzenie wyglądu głowy ludzkiej, a drugim jest stworzenie sympatycznej artystycznej reprezentacji głowy, rodzaju kukiełki. Przykładem pierwszego podejścia są roboty Replee i Geminoid stworzone przez Hiroshi Ishiguro [33,36], natomiast drugiego robot Flash stworzony na Politechnice Wrocławskiej [42]. W tym drugim przypadku istotnym jest, by twarz kukiełki była wystarczająco ekspresywna, aby przekazać bogactwo emocji, a co więcej, by te emocje były czytelne dla interlokutora -stąd jest to problem rodem ze sztuki tworzenia postaci animowanych, a więc mamy tu do czynienia ze stykiem nauk technicznych ze sztuką. ...
In order to assess the impact of robots on society, it is necessary to carefully analyze the state-of-the-art, and in particular the fundamental issues that have yet to be resolved, however having significant impact on the potential societal changes resulting from the development of robotics. The aforementioned impact depends on the level of intelligence of robots, so this aspect dominates in the presented analysis. The presentation has been divided into three parts: 1) analysis of technical factors affecting the intelligence and security of robots, 2) analysis of current capabilities of robots, 3) analysis of diverse predictions of how robotics will evolve, and thus the attitudes towards the influence of the result of this development on society. This part of the paper is devoted to the second of the above mentioned three issues.
... Among the different factors involved in HRI, perhaps the least mediatic, but no less important is related to the humanoid movement of robots [5]. This movement is perceived unconsciously by humans and is not limited just to the robot's arms, but also extends to other movements such as those of the robot's head, eye blinking, mouth movement, hands, etc. [6,7]. ...
Collaborative robots or cobots interact with humans in a common work environment.
In cobots, one under-investigated but important issue is related to their movement and how it is perceived by humans. This paper tries to analyze whether humans prefer a robot moving in a human or in a robotic fashion. To this end, the present work lays out what differentiates the movement performed by an industrial robotic arm from that performed by a human one. The main difference lies in the fact that the robotic movement has a trapezoidal speed profile, while for the human arm, the speed profile is bell-shaped and during complex movements, it can be considered as a sum of superimposed bell-shaped movements. Based on the lognormality principle, a procedure was developed for a robotic arm to perform human-like movements. Both speed profiles were implemented in two industrial robots, namely, an ABB IRB 120 and a Universal Robot UR3. Three tests were used to study the subjects’ preference when seeing both movements and another analyzed the same when interacting with the robot by touching its ends with their fingers.
... A more humanoid machine elicits a greater sense of agency (Barlas, 2019;Ciardo et al., 2018), trustworthiness, and a positive attitude (Spatola & Agnieszka, 2021) among users to a certain extent (Mori et al., 2012). Human beings are accustomed to understanding external objects with human features and behaviors (H Ishiguro & Nishio, 2007.) and have tendencies to anthropomorphize objects in the environment (Reeves & Nass, 1998). ...
Objectives
This study examined the published works related to healthcare robotics for older people using the attributes of health, nursing, and the human-computer interaction framework.
Design
An integrative literature review.
Methods
A search strategy captured 55 eligible articles from databases (CINAHL, Embase, IEEE Xplore, and PubMed) and hand-searching approaches. Bibliometric and content analyses grounded on the health and nursing attributes and human-computer interaction framework were performed using MAXQDA. Finally, results were verified using critical friend feedback by a second reviewer.
Results
Most articles were from multiple authorship, published in non-nursing journals, and originating from developed economies. They primarily focused on applying healthcare robots in practice settings, physical health, and communication tasks. Using the human-computer interaction framework, it was found that older adults frequently served as the primary users while nurses, healthcare providers, and researchers functioned as secondary users and operators. Research articles focused on the usability, functionality, and acceptability of robotic systems. At the same time, theoretical papers explored the frameworks and the value of empathy and emotion in robots, human-computer interaction and nursing models and theories supporting healthcare practice, and gerontechnology. Current robotic systems are less anthropomorphic, operated through real-time direct and supervisory inputs, and mainly equipped with visual and auditory sensors and actuators with limited capability in performing health assessments.
Conclusion
Results communicate the need for technological competency among nurses, advancements in increasing healthcare robot humanness, and the importance of conscientious efforts from an interdisciplinary research team in improving robotic system usability and utility for the care of older adults.
... Other studies used confederates as interaction partners and tested live emotional interactions (e.g., Vaughan and Lanzetta, 1980), but this strategy can lack rigorous control of confederates' behaviors (Bavelas and Healing, 2013;Kuhlen and Brennan, 2013). Androids-that is, humanoid robots that exhibit appearances and behaviors that closely resemble those of humans (Ishiguro and Nishio, 2007)-could become an important tool for testing live face-to-face emotional interactions with rigorous control. ...
... It has 35 actuators: 29 for facial muscle actions, 3 for head movement (roll, pitch, and yaw rotation), and 3 for eyeball control (pan movements of the individual eyeballs and tilt movements of both eyeballs). The facial and head movements are driven by pneumatic (air) actuators, which create safe, silent, and human-like motions (Ishiguro and Nishio, 2007;Minato et al., 2007). The pneumatic actuators are controlled by an air pressure control valve. ...
... The construction of effective android software and hardware requires that the mechanisms of psychological theories be elucidated. We expect that this constructivist approach to developing and testing androids (Ishiguro and Nishio, 2007;Minato et al., 2007) will be a useful methodology for understanding the psychological mechanisms underlying human emotional interaction. ...
Android robots capable of emotional interactions with humans have considerable potential for application to research. While several studies developed androids that can exhibit human-like emotional facial expressions, few have empirically validated androids’ facial expressions. To investigate this issue, we developed an android head called Nikola based on human psychology and conducted three studies to test the validity of its facial expressions. In Study 1, Nikola produced single facial actions, which were evaluated in accordance with the Facial Action Coding System. The results showed that 17 action units were appropriately produced. In Study 2, Nikola produced the prototypical facial expressions for six basic emotions (anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness, and surprise), and naïve participants labeled photographs of the expressions. The recognition accuracy of all emotions was higher than chance level. In Study 3, Nikola produced dynamic facial expressions for six basic emotions at four different speeds, and naïve participants evaluated the naturalness of the speed of each expression. The effect of speed differed across emotions, as in previous studies of human expressions. These data validate the spatial and temporal patterns of Nikola’s emotional facial expressions, and suggest that it may be useful for future psychological studies and real-life applications.
... The applications of robots are not limited to industrial manufacturing, and the rapid advancement of technology has been accompanied by an increase in the development of social robots, which are designed to socially interact with humans, for instance, by contributing to healthcare for older people (e.g., Paro), teaching autistic children (e.g., NAO), and acting as guides in public places (Broadbent, 2017;Dahl & Boulos, 2013;Gates, 2007;Han et al., 2015;Sabelli & Kanda, 2016). To make the robots around us acceptable and enjoyable and to enhance the quality of human-robot interaction (HRI), robots are built to have a humanlike appearance (e.g., android robots; Broadbent et al., 2013;Ishiguro & Nishio, 2007;Rosenthal-von der Pütten & Krämer, 2014). However, does an increasingly humanlike appearance lead to increased likeability of robots? ...
... Robots with these functions appear to be human-minded and to have the mental capacity to act, plan and exert self-control (i.e., agency) as well as to feel and sense (i.e., experience; Appel et al., 2016;Broadbent, 2017;Gray & Wegner, 2012;Stafford et al., 2014). To promote the acceptability of robots, the human-likeness of a robot's appearance is just one consideration, and engineers have started to consider humanlike mental capacities as another avenue (Fong et al., 2003;Ishiguro & Nishio, 2007). Hence, in recent years, academic interest has started to shift toward a new facet of humanlike robots, namely, the mental capacities of artificial systems (Gray & Wegner, 2012;Stein & Ohler, 2017). ...
Robots are being used to socially interact with humans. To enhance the quality of human-robot interaction, engineers aim to build robots with both a humanlike appearance and high mental capacity, but there is a lack of empirical evidence regarding how these two characteristics jointly affect people’s emotional response to robots. The current two experiments (each N = 80) presented robots with either a mechanical or humanlike appearance, with mental capacities operationalized as low or high, and with either self-oriented mentalization to mainly concentrate on the robot itself or other-oriented mentalization to read others’ minds. It was found that when the robots had a humanlike appearance, they were more dislikeable than when they had a mechanical appearance, replicating the uncanny valley effect for appearance. Importantly, given a humanlike appearance, robots with high mental ability elicited stronger dislike than those with low mental ability, showing an uncanny valley effect for mind, but this difference was absent for robots with a mechanical appearance. In addition, this effect was limited to robots with self-oriented mentalization ability and did not extend to robots with other-oriented mentalization ability. Hence, the exterior appearance and interior mental capacity of robots interact to influence people’s emotional reaction to them, and the uncanny valley as it pertains to the mind depends on the robot’s appearance in addition to its mental ability. This implies that social robots with humanlike appearances should be designed with obvious other-directed social abilities to make them more likeable.
... It is still only a hypothesis and the amount of empirical proof remains scarce [70,75], so it is unclear whether or not this hypothesis holds, simply because a humanoid robot that perfectly looks and behaves as a human does not yet exist. Regardless, there has been struggle to overcome this uncanny valley [76], suggesting that appearance does matter (see Philip K. Dick android [77], Geminoid HI-1 [78] or HRP-4C [79] humanoid robots). ...
... Humanoid robot heads appearance is considered a major concern by some, and there has been an emergence of android robot heads in humanoid robots [28,71,[76][77][78][79]. Androids have been defined as humanoid robots with an appearance that closely resembles that of humans, possessing traits such as artificial skin and hair (see [80] for an example), and capable of linguistic and para-linguistic communication [76]. ...
... Most of these expressive face heads android faces are intended to have the appearance of adults, although there are some examples of childandroids like Barthoc Jr. [126] and CB 2 [86]. One very interesting feature of Repliee Q1 and Geminoid HI-1 androids [78] is the implementation of micro-motions. We consider micro-motions to be a type of appearance-enhancing design parameter because it is something that is constantly being displayed (breathing motion or shoulder movements). ...
We conducted a literature review on sensor heads for humanoid robots. A strong case is made on topics involved in human robot interaction. Having found that vision is the most abundant perception system among sensor heads for humanoid robots, we included a review of control techniques for humanoid active vision. We provide historical insight and inform on current robotic head design and applications. Information is chronologically organized whenever possible and exposes trends in control techniques, mechanical design, periodical advances and overall philosophy. We found that there are two main types of humanoid robot heads which we propose to classify as either non-expressive face robot heads or expressive face robot heads. We expose their respective characteristics and provide some ideas on design and vision control considerations for humanoid robot heads involved in human robot interactions.
... Since 2017, I have been doing ethnographic research in robot laboratories in Japan, where I study how roboticists think about, develop and experiment with various kinds of social robots. I also investigate how they use robots to explore what it means to be human (Ishiguro & Nishio, 2007;Ishiguro, 2020). ...
In this article, I explore how experiments with social robots enact and reconfigure more-than-human forms of sociality. I combine recent anthropological discussions of nonhuman sociality with Andy Pickering’s work on dances of agency (1993, 1995) and John Law’s method assemblages (2004) to show how human-robot interaction experiments enact open-ended and decentred configurations of entangling relations between humans and robots. I propose the concept of artificial sociality to capture both the ongoing enactments and multiple results of such experimental reconfigurations. Using these conceptual tools, I unpack the “curious robot experiment” from my ethnographic fieldwork in a Japanese robotics laboratory and compare the kinds of sociality produced in the two experimental conditions. I argue that the curious robot exemplifies what Pickering calls technologies of engagement (2018) by manifesting a form of artificial sociality that augments the unpredictability of dances of agency enacted in (re)configurations of entangling relations.
... [32] In robotics, many different techniques are used to create tactile sensors that mimic and transcend the subtle pressure sensing properties of natural skins. [33] A variety of sensing technologies are derived from the exploration of different conduction principles and materials, such as capacitive, [34,35] piezoresistive, [36][37][38][39] optical, [40,41] piezoelectric, [42,43] magnetic, [44,45] multicomponent, [46,47] and EIT. [27,48,49] In general, different types of multilayer sensors are used to mimic the sensing capabilities of human skins. ...
... Piezoelectric [42,43] Stress (strain) polarization ...
Electrical Impedance Tomography (EIT) is a non‐invasive measurement technique that estimates the internal resistivity distribution based on the boundary voltage‐current data measured from the surface of the conductor. If a thin stretchable soft material with a certain piezoresistive property is used as the electrical conductor, EIT has the ability to reconstruct the position where the resistivity changes due to the inside pressure contact, so that a large‐scale artificial sensitive skin is provided for robotics. First, the different conduction principles and material types of artificial sensitive skins are discussed, which is next followed by the different driving modes and image reconstruction techniques. Then, details on how EIT is used for robotic skin applications are described. Finally, the development trends and future potentials of EIT‐based robotic skins are expounded. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
