What is more lovable robot?

To pass the time on a lengthy high-altitude long-haul aircraft , I decided to watch a movie. Open the front seats are not high quality resistive touch screen, the "classic film" page with two different styles of movies make me hesitate, one is Raleigh • Scott 's " Prometheus " another is the CG animated "Wall-E". The former is the "Alien " series prequel nature of the work , the reason may be in the upper body , I feel a little nervous , decided to turn to see people relaxing "Wall-E".

Fast Company article piqued my interest - an artist tells you how to make IT equipment more endearing . His artwork has been some concern , but also because of his background relationship , which works with the technology still has a very deep association. For example , he exhibited earlier Pulse Machine, this collaboration with sculptor Alicia Eggert exhibits, the shape is just a mediocre drum . But Reben but gives it "life " - Pulse Machine tap 60 times per minute , the same as the human heart , when this machine is equivalent to the number of 78 -year-old rap when it will stop working. Surprisingly, this works to get outside of resonance, when visitors viewing this work that it would feel sad.

Reben later tried a project called BlabDroid robot, the robot's appearance can be said that this cottage Wall-E, which has the double big eyes and the voice of seven children, when this machine appeared in the crowd, Reben it found that people are not excluded and talk.

The artist believes that people have some sort of socialization projection machine. For example, when we secretly cursing the computer crashes, printer jams, in fact, is a personification of emotional projection. Reben believe that people are social animals, when everything around us towards smart, we also need to give the social attributes of these objects, to meet their own needs.

Conversely, the more people have the characteristics of the device, the more vulnerable people's favorite.

In one experiment in Amsterdam, the small robot BlabDroid pedestrians to ask "Who is your favorite?", And after asking the respondents answered, "You are now willing to immediately call TA it?" One answer is "mother, "the female respondents were then wept in front of the robot, because her mother had passed away. Although this is a case beyond the original intention of the research team, but Reben think this is precisely reflect the human machine also has a social dependency, even if they exist inside and lifeless. iRobot CEO had earlier revealed that 80 percent of customers will take the name of their cleaner robots.

With advances in technology, the robot appears to work in our lives even have to be able to see in the future. But in addition to providing excellent efficiency, we must anticipate an early human robot acceptance issues.

This is reminiscent of the "Alien" movie in Cyborg, Cyborg first episode appeared in the movie series is perfect, never missed doing things, but in the end had indeed sent the killer behind the spacecraft. • Later, James Cameron's "Aliens," the man who is indeed a positive role in the role, in order to highlight the human side of the robot, the director deliberately arranged in acrobatics scene, because mistakes injure the robot hand plot.

Reben that the current robot manufacturers increasingly aware of this, for example by the introduction of industrial robots rethink robot Baxter broke the conventional general operating machinery, production lines and machinery generally not the same, it is equipped with a display robot "expression" of the screen, through the window that workers can learn the situation of the robot, such as when the robot show his face troubled expression, proven production line has gone wrong.

But design is also a problem, not to say robots blindly go to ground gas line is an excellent interactive design. As Office virtual assistant "small pin" Clippy is too fond of brush and makes sense of presence bothered. We also have a social side of successful robot examples, such as voice assistant Siri, is one of the classic classic representative.

Currently, Reben is testing a project he conceived as a machine to add defects, will make it with the people closer together. He discussed that if robots like humans, there is a deviation to do anything, whether that allows humans and robots more harmonious?

OK, but I also have a question: If one day robots do things vague, what purpose we are made ​​out of them?