Page 224 - Socially Intelligent Agents Creating Relationships with Computers and Robots

From PETS to StoryRooms 207

4. A Storytelling Robot

PETS, a “Personal Electronic Teller of Stories,” is a robotic storytelling sys-
tem for elementary school age children ([10], [19]). The PETS kit contains a
box of fuzzy stuffed animal parts and an authoring application on a personal
computer (figure 25.1). Children can build a robotic animal pet by connecting
animal parts such as torsos, heads, paws, ears, and wings. Children can also
write and tell stories using the My PETS software. Just as the robotic animal
is constructed from discrete components, My PETS is also constructive. This
application enables children to create emotions that PETS can act out, draw
emotive facial expressions, give their robotic companion a name, and compile
a library of their own stories and story starters. Each emotion that the robot

Figure 25.1. Children and adults play with PETS at the 1999 HCIL Open House.

performs is represented by a sequence of physical movements that conveys a
specific feeling to the audience. Our child designers defined six basic emo-
tions: happy, sad, lonely, loving, scared, and angry. They were chosen because
the actions that represent these emotions are sufficiently different from each
other that the audience would not confuse one from another. To express lone-
liness, the robot lowers its arms and looks left and right, as if looking for a
friend. When the robot is happy, it waves its arms quickly, turns its head left
and right, and spins around. When the robot is sad, it lowers its arms and head,
and moves forward at a slow, deliberate pace.