Page 12 - Designing Sociable Robots

breazeal-79017 brea˙fm February 8, 2002 16:1

Preface

IrememberseeingthemovieStarWarsasalittlegirl.Irememberbeingabsolutelycaptivated
and fascinated by the two droids, R2-D2 and C-3P0. Their personalities and their antics
made them compelling characters, far different from typical sci-fi robots. I actually cared
about these droids, unlike the computer HAL, from Arthur C. Clarke’s book 2001: A Space
Odyssey, whose cool intelligence left me with an eerie feeling. I remember the heated
debates among my classmates about whether the droids were real or not. Some would argue
that because you could see the wires in C-3P0’s torso that it must be a real robot. Alas,
however, the truth was known. They were not real at all. They existed only in the movies. I
figured that I would never see anything like those robots in my lifetime.
ManyyearslaterIfoundmyselfattheMITArtificialIntelligenceLabwiththeopportunity
to work with Professor Rod Brooks. He told me of autonomous robots, of their biological
inspiration, all very insect-like in nature. I remember thinking to myself that this was it—
these kinds of robots were the real-life precursors to the Star Wars droids of my childhood.
I knew that this was the place for me. Trained in engineering and the sciences, I began
to specialize in robotics and artificial intelligence. While working at the MIT Artificial
Intelligence Lab, my colleagues and I have created a wide assortment of autonomous robots,
ranging from insect-like planetary micro-rovers to upper-torso humanoids, their behavior
mirroring that of biological creatures. I developed a deep appreciation for the insights that
science as well as art have to offer in building “living, breathing” robots. As a well-seasoned
researcher, I began to build a robot in the image of my childhood dream. Its name is Kismet,
and it is largely the subject of this book.
Beyond the inspiration and implementation of Kismet, this book also tries to define a
vision for sociable robots of the future. Taking R2-D2 and C-3P0 as representative instances,
a sociable robot is able to communicate and interact with us, understand and even relate
to us, in a personal way. It is a robot that is socially intelligent in a human-like way. We
interact with it as if it were a person, and ultimately as a friend. This is the dream of a
sociable robot. The field is in its infancy, and so is Kismet.
The year 2001 has arrived. The vast majority of modern robots are sophisticated tools,
not synthetic creatures. They are used to manufacture cars more efficiently and quickly, to
explore the depths of the ocean, or to exceed our human limitations to perform delicate
surgery. These and many other applications are driven by the desire to increase efficiency,
productivity, and effectiveness in utilitarian terms, or to perform tasks in environments too
hazardous for humans. They are valued for their ability to carry out tasks without interacting
with people.
Recently, robotic technologies are making their way into society at large, commercialized
as toys, cyber-pets, or other entertainment products. The development of robots for domestic
and healthcare purposes is already under way in corporate and university research labs. For
these applications, the ability to interact with a wide variety of people in a natural, intuitive,

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