Page 148 - Modern Robotics Building Versatile Macines

128 Modern Robotics

• A babysitting robot could provide a toddler with a variety of
enriching interactions while knowing when the baby is getting
tired and should rest
• Robotic teachers might help older children with hand-eye coordi-
nation and other manipulation skills, mixing in different activities
if the child shows signs of boredom
• Robotic caregivers for older people would be able to not only
fetch items and give reminders about medication but also recog-
nize signs of depression or other distress
• Alzheimer’s patients could receive memory reinforcement and
cognitive enrichment activities, as well as orientation and emo-
tional reassurance
• Specially adapted sociable robots might help stroke victims regain
speech and motor skills
• Robots could provide persons suffering from severe cognitive
disorders such as autism with carefully monitored and graduated
activities to make them better oriented to their environment and
more responsive to other people

“A Robot That Can Be Your Friend”

Besides earning her a doctoral degree from MIT in 2000,
Breazeal’s work has brought her considerable acclaim. She has
been widely recognized as being a significant young inventor or
innovator, such as by Time magazine and the Boston Business
Forward. Breazeal was one of 100 “young innovators” featured
in MIT’s Technology Review. She also served as a special con-
sultant for the Steven Spielberg/Stanley Kubrick movie, A.I.:
Artificial Intelligence.
Today Breazeal is an assistant professor of media arts and sci-
ences at the MIT Media Lab, as well as being director of the lab’s
Robotic Life Group. Whatever directions her work may take her
in the future, Cynthia Breazeal has helped people to see robots not
only as tools but also as potential partners. Or, as Breazeal puts it