Has technology created a flow of consciousness in robots? Japanese scientists not only think so, but also know so. Read on for some highly mechanical insights and a chuckle or two.
Kansei is a Japanese word meaning “sensibility” and it is the moniker bestowed upon a new humanoid robot who frowns and looks disgusted when he hears the word “bomb” and “president” and smiles at the words, “sushi” and “love,” Created by a university research team, this robot can pull up 36 facial impressions, almost as many as famed impressionist, Rich Little. The expressions are based on a word association program that comes from a self-updating online database of 500,000 keywords.
The robot has 19 movable parts underneath a silicone face- mask. The expressions range from happiness, to sadness, anger and fear. Project leader, Junichi Takeno, professor at Meiji University’s School of Science and Technology, says:
"What we are trying to do here is to create a flow of consciousness in robots so that they can make the relevant facial expressions. I believe that's going to be a key to improving communication between humans and robots."
It is expected that down the road this robot will also have the ability to speak and convey feelings.
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