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Bar-Cohen : Biomimetics: Biologically Inspired Technologies DK3163_c001 Final Proof page 30 21.9.2005 6:40pm

30 Biomimetics: Biologically Inspired Technologies

Figure 1.19 (See color insert) JPL’s Lemur, six-legged robots, in a staged operation. (Courtesy of Brett
Kennedy, JPL.)

out many links to research and development projects that are involved with such robots. The
entertainment and toy industries have greatly benefited from advancement in this technology.
Increasingly, robots are used in movies where creatures are shown to exhibit realistic behavior.
The capabilities demonstrated even include creatures that are no longer in existence like the
dinosaurs in the movie Jurassic Park.
As mentioned earlier, visits to toy stores, show how far technology has progressed in making
inexpensive toys that imitate biology. Such store displays include frogs swimming in a fish bowl
and dogs walking back and forth. Operating robots that emulate the functions and performance of
humans or animals use capabilities of actuators and mechanisms that depend on state-of-the-art
technology. Upper-end robots and toys are becoming increasingly sophisticated, allowing them to
walk and talk and some robots can be operated autonomously or can be remotely reprogrammed to
change its characteristic behavior. Some of the toys and robots can even display expressions and
exhibit behaviors similar to humans and animals. An example of such a robot is Kismet, which can
express and react to human expressions facially and verbally (Bar-Cohen and Breazeal, 2003). This
expression is made as a function of the level of expression that is being emulated or programmed
to perform. As this technology evolves, it is likely that in the future, human-like robots may be
developed to perform tasks without the possibility of human errors, needing a break, being
distracted, or getting tired. Moreover, these robots may be programmed to display happiness,
sorrow, etc.
One may even see a day when such robots could become human companions and advisors. At
such point, the population of biomimetic robots will increase to possibly become a household
‘‘tool’’ just like personal computers. With the increase in availability of robots as property there will
arise a need to protect them as valuables possibly even requiring to equip them with self-defense.
Such a capability will raise major concerns related to the limits that will be allowed with regard to
their interaction with humans. Another potential issue that may arise with the evolution of such
robots is the potential copying of humans forming the equivalence of cloning. In contrast to the