According to an article I recently read, researchers in Japan have created a"Child-Robot with Biomimetic Body," or CB2. The robot -- which weights 73 pounds and stands 4 feet tall -- has 56 actuators that control its motion and 197 sensors that simulate touch. CB2 is designed to assist in child development studies."
The point of the robot is to mimic a real child between the age of 1 and 3 years old. It's able to crawl, change facial expressions, and make sounds using an artificial vocal chord. Based off the article it seems that this robot can be quite useful.
"In some cases they are programmed to undertake some action, while researchers study the reactions of real children watching; in others, the robot may be put in some situation, and the real children are asked what they think the robot should do."
Success aside, there is another issue related to the story. A lot of the people who have witnessed the CB2, adults included, have said that it is extremely 'creepy.' This can be attribute to what is apparently called the "uncanny valley."
"What this robot represents, and why a lot of people get creeped out by it, is the uncanny valley, which is a term we use to describe robots or other animatronic devices that look really realistic but are off just a little bit." Apparently the robot is a long way of from robots in the movies, such AI. The problem that I see here is that if children are creeped out by it, how can it be used to accurate gather data that can categorized as normal. Clearly this would effect the way the child interacts with the robot.
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