Communications of the ACM
It's Erwin the Friendly Robot
A Ph.D. student is using ERWIN, the Emotional Robot With Intelligent Network, to study how the human-robot relationship might be affected if robots had human-like thought biases.
Credit: University of Lincoln
The development of realistic long-term relationships between humans and androids is the focus of a Ph.D. research project in the United Kingdom. Lincoln University Ph.D. student Mriganka Biswas will use a friendly robot to study how the human-robot relationship would be affected if robots have human-like thought biases.
Emotional Robot With Intelligent Network (ERWIN) will have the ability to express five basic emotions while interacting with humans. "Cognitive biases make humans what they are, fashioning characteristics and personality, complete with errors and imperfections," Biswas says. "Therefore, introducing cognitive biases in a robot's characteristics makes the robot imperfect by nature, but also more human-like."
The lack of identifiable characteristics and personality has hindered the development of relationship-bonding with humans. The research should help scientists understand and develop better, more realistic relationships between humans and companion robots, and could shed light on how children with autism, Asperger syndrome, or attachment disorder form relationships.
From University of Lincoln
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