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New 'emotional' robots aim to read human feelings

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Rob Lever and Julie Charpentrat, Agence France-Presse

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2018/news/01/11/robot.jpg"/><figcaption><em>Omron YouTube</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>LAS VEGAS - The robot called Forpheus does more than play a mean game of table tennis. It can read body language to gauge its opponent&#x27;s ability, and offer advice and encouragement.</p><p>&quot;It will try to understand your mood and your playing ability and predict a bit about your next shot,&quot; said Keith Kersten of Japan-based Omron Automation, which developed Forpheus to showcase its technology.</p><p>&quot;We don&#x27;t sell ping pong robots but we are using Forpheus to show how technology works with people,&quot; said Kersten.</p><p>Forpheus is among several devices shown at this week&#x27;s Consumer Electronics Show which highlight how robots can become more human-like by acquiring &quot;emotional intelligence&quot; and empathy.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/yLdB985thbI?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="~//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="~//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div><p>Although this specialization is still emerging, the notion of robotic empathy appeared to be a strong theme at the huge gathering of technology professionals in Las Vegas.</p><p>Honda, the Japanese auto giant, launched a new robotics program called Empower, Experience, Empathy including its new 3E-A18 robot which &quot;shows compassion to humans with a variety of facial expressions,&quot; according to a statement.</p><p>Although empathy and emotional intelligence do not necessarily require a humanoid form, some robot makers have been working on form as well as function.</p><p>&quot;We&#x27;re been working very hard to have an emotional robot,&quot; said Jean-Michel Mourier of French-based Blue Frog Robotics, which makes the companion and social robot called Buddy, set to be released later this year.</p><p>&quot;He has a complex brain,&quot; Mourier said at a CES event. &quot;It will ask for a caress or it will get mad if you poke him in the eye.&quot;</p><p>Other robots such as Qihan Technology&#x27;s Sanbot and SoftBank Robotics&#x27; Pepper, are being &quot;humanized&quot; by teaching them to read and react to people&#x27;s emotional states.</p><p>Pepper is &quot;capable of interpreting a smile, a frown, your tone of voice, as well as the lexical field you use and non-verbal language such as the angle of your head,&quot; according to SoftBank.</p><div><strong>ROBOT IN HUMAN SHOES</strong></div><p>Developing emotional intelligence in robots is a difficult task, melding the use of computer &quot;vision&quot; to interpret objects and people and creating software that can respond accordingly.</p><p>&quot;Empathy is the goal: the robot is putting itself in the shoes of the human, and that&#x27;s about as hard as it gets,&quot; said Patrick Moorhead, a technology analyst with Moor Insights &amp; Strategy.</p><p>&quot;It&#x27;s not just about technology, it&#x27;s about psychology and trust.&quot;</p><p>Moorhead said this technology was in the early stages but held promise in some areas, noting that there was strong interest in Japan amid a lack of caretakers for the elderly population.</p><p>&quot;In some ways it can be a bit creepy if you&#x27;re crying and the robot is trying to console you,&quot; he said.</p><p>&quot;If you have no friends, the next best thing is a friend robot, and introverts might feel more comfortable talking to a robot.&quot;</p><div><strong>&#x27;EMOTION CHIP&#x27;</strong></div><p>One CES exhibitor offered a promise of going further than the current devices by developing an &quot;emotion chip&quot; which can allow robots to process emotions in a manner similar to humans.</p><p>&quot;There has been a lot of research on detecting human emotions. We do the opposite. We synthesize emotions for the machine,&quot; said Patrick Levy-Rosenthal, founder of New York-based Emoshape, which is producing its chip for partners in gaming, virtual and augmented reality and other sectors.</p><p>It could be used to power a humanoid robot, or other devices. For example, an e-reader could better understand a text to infuse more emotion in storytelling.</p><p>As for Forpheus, Kersten said the robot&#x27;s ability to help people improve their table tennis skills could have numerous applications for sports, businesses and more.</p><p>&quot;You could sense how people are feeling, if they are attentive or in a good state to drive,&quot; he said.</p><p>Another key application could be in health care, he said: &quot;In an elderly patient facility, you can determine if someone is in distress and needs help.&quot;</p><div><br/><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></div>

<p>The robot called Forpheus does more than play a mean game of table tennis. It can read body language to gauge its opponent's ability, and offer advice and encouragement.</p>

The robot called Forpheus does more than play a mean game of table tennis. It can read body language to gauge its opponent's ability, and offer advice and encouragement.

New 'emotional' robots aim to read human feelings

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New 'emotional' robots aim to read human feelings

Rob Lever and Julie Charpentrat,

Agence France-Presse

Published Jan 11, 2018 12:45 PM PHT

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artificial intelligence

Forpheus

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