Android science
Encyclopedia
Android science is an interdisciplinary framework for studying human interaction and cognition based on the premise that a very humanlike robot
(that is, an android) can elicit human-directed social responses in human beings. The android's ability to elicit human-directed social responses enables researchers to employ an android in experiments with human participants as an apparatus that can be controlled more precisely than a human actor.
While mechanical-looking robots may be able to elicit social responses to some extent, a robot that looks and acts like a human being is in a better position to stand in for a human actor in social, psychological, cognitive, or neuroscientific experiments. This gives experiments with androids a level of ecological validity with respect to human interaction found lacking in experiments with mechanical-looking robots.
An experimental setting for human-android interaction also provides a testing ground for models concerning how cognitive or neural processing influence human interaction, because models can be implemented in the android and tested in interaction with human participants. In android science, cognitive science and engineering are understood as enjoying a synergistic relationship in which the results from a deepening understanding of human interaction and the development of increasingly humanlike androids feed into each other.
Some researchers broadly construe android science to include all the effects of engineered human likeness, such as the impact of humanlike robots on society or the study of the relationship between anthropomorphism
and human perception. The latter relates to an observation made by Masahiro Mori
that human beings are more sensitive to deviations from humanlike behavior or appearance in near-human forms. Mori refers to this phenomenon as the uncanny valley
. In android science this heightened sensitivity is seen as a diagnostic tool for enhancing the human likeness of an android.
Robot
A robot is a mechanical or virtual intelligent agent that can perform tasks automatically or with guidance, typically by remote control. In practice a robot is usually an electro-mechanical machine that is guided by computer and electronic programming. Robots can be autonomous, semi-autonomous or...
(that is, an android) can elicit human-directed social responses in human beings. The android's ability to elicit human-directed social responses enables researchers to employ an android in experiments with human participants as an apparatus that can be controlled more precisely than a human actor.
While mechanical-looking robots may be able to elicit social responses to some extent, a robot that looks and acts like a human being is in a better position to stand in for a human actor in social, psychological, cognitive, or neuroscientific experiments. This gives experiments with androids a level of ecological validity with respect to human interaction found lacking in experiments with mechanical-looking robots.
An experimental setting for human-android interaction also provides a testing ground for models concerning how cognitive or neural processing influence human interaction, because models can be implemented in the android and tested in interaction with human participants. In android science, cognitive science and engineering are understood as enjoying a synergistic relationship in which the results from a deepening understanding of human interaction and the development of increasingly humanlike androids feed into each other.
Some researchers broadly construe android science to include all the effects of engineered human likeness, such as the impact of humanlike robots on society or the study of the relationship between anthropomorphism
Anthropomorphism
Anthropomorphism is any attribution of human characteristics to animals, non-living things, phenomena, material states, objects or abstract concepts, such as organizations, governments, spirits or deities. The term was coined in the mid 1700s...
and human perception. The latter relates to an observation made by Masahiro Mori
Masahiro Mori
is a Japanese roboticist noted for his pioneering work on the emotional response of humans to non-human entities, as well as for his views on religion and robots. The ASIMO robot was designed by one of Masahiro's students....
that human beings are more sensitive to deviations from humanlike behavior or appearance in near-human forms. Mori refers to this phenomenon as the uncanny valley
Uncanny Valley
The uncanny valley is a hypothesis in the field of robotics and 3D computer animation, which holds that when human replicas look and act almost, but not perfectly, like actual human beings, it causes a response of revulsion among human observers...
. In android science this heightened sensitivity is seen as a diagnostic tool for enhancing the human likeness of an android.
Conferences, workshops, and symposia
- Uncanny Valley panel. Siggraph 2007: The 34th International Conference and Exhibition on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques. San Diego, August 5–9, 2007.
- Toward Social Mechanisms of Android Science long symposium at the Fifth International Conference of the Cognitive Science, July 26, 2006 at Sheraton Vancouver Wall Centre, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
- Views of the Uncanny Valley, A Humanoids 2005 Workshop, IEEE-RAS International Conference on Humanoid Robots, Echopal Tsukuba International Congress Center, Tsukuba, Japan, 5 December 2005.
- Toward Social Mechanisms of Android Science workshop at the 27th Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society, July 25 and 26, 2005 at Regina Palace Hotel, Stresa, Italy.
See also
- Android
- Cognitive scienceCognitive scienceCognitive science is the interdisciplinary scientific study of mind and its processes. It examines what cognition is, what it does and how it works. It includes research on how information is processed , represented, and transformed in behaviour, nervous system or machine...
- RobotRobotA robot is a mechanical or virtual intelligent agent that can perform tasks automatically or with guidance, typically by remote control. In practice a robot is usually an electro-mechanical machine that is guided by computer and electronic programming. Robots can be autonomous, semi-autonomous or...
- Human-robot interaction
- Uncanny valleyUncanny ValleyThe uncanny valley is a hypothesis in the field of robotics and 3D computer animation, which holds that when human replicas look and act almost, but not perfectly, like actual human beings, it causes a response of revulsion among human observers...
- Affective computingAffective computingAffective computing is the study and development of systems and devices that can recognize, interpret, process, and simulate human affects. It is an interdisciplinary field spanning computer sciences, psychology, and cognitive science...
External links
- Android Science Center
- MacDorman, K.F. & Ishiguro, H. (2006). The uncanny advantage of using androids in social and cognitive science research. Interaction Studies, 7(3).
- MacDorman, K. F., Minato, T., Shimada, M., Itakura, S., Cowley, S. J. & Ishiguro, H. (2005). Assessing human likeness by eye contact in an android testbed. Proceedings of the XXVII Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society. July 21 – 23, 2005. Stresa, Italy.
- Android Science segment on the Daily Planet Goes to Japan, the Discovery Channel, March 24, 2005.