Page 145 - Modern Robotics Building Versatile Macines

SOCIABLE ROBOTS 125

When Kismet did not have human contact for some time, it became
lonely. If a visitor arrived, the robot began an attention-getting dis-
play. It tilted its head forward. Its ears swiveled a bit like those of an
excited terrier, while its vocal babbling conveyed excitement.
The need for human company was one of Kismet’s three major
motivational drives. Another was stimulation from seeing “interest-
ing” objects. Because Kismet had no arms, it conveyed its interest
in an object to a person, who usually reacted by bringing the object
closer to the robot. Like an infant, Kismet also got “tired” after
prolonged interaction because of its fatigue drive.
In an interview with Douglas Whynott and Fenella Saunders of
Discover magazine, Breazeal stressed that

The behavior [of Kismet] is not canned. It is being computed and is
not a random thing. The interaction is rich enough so that you can’t
tell what’s going to happen next. The overarching behavior is that the
robot is seeking someone out, but the internal factors are changing
all the time.

Perhaps the most remarkable thing was how fluidly Kismet’s
behavior arose out of a system that has 15 separate computers run-
ning several different operating systems.

Leonardo

Seeing how much can be elicited in both robots and humans even
by the relatively simple Kismet, Breazeal was eager to build on
that experience. One important challenge she faced was to link the
cognitive and learning processes to the emotional drives and social
interactions. Thus, as she explained to Time reporter Adam Cohen
in 2000, a future “sociable robot” would learn language much in the
way an infant does. The words it would learn most quickly would
therefore be those that are connected with emotional needs—being
able to ask for a favorite toy, for example. In the article, Breazeal
said she hopes that eventually a robot will be able to make the kinds
of links that seem to be almost instinctive in toddlers: “When I’m in