Social robot
Encyclopedia
A social robot is an autonomous robot
that interacts and communicates with humans or other autonomous physical agents by following social behaviors and rules attached to its role. This definition suggests that a social robot
must have a physical embodiment (screen characters would be excluded). Recently some robots have been developed that use a screen to display the robot's head. Such a machine is on the borderline of being a robot. If the body only functions as a holder for the screen then such a system cannot be considered a robot but if the robot has some physical motor and sensor abilities then such a system could be considered a robot.
, and developed since the early 1990s by artificial intelligence
researchers, most notably, Kerstin Dautenhahn, as well as Maja Mataric, Cynthia Breazeal
, Aude Billard, Yiannis Demiris, and Brian Duffy. Also related is Kansai engineering movement in Japanese science and technology --- for social robotics, see especially works by Yoshihiro Miyake, Tomio Watanabe, Hideki Kozima, Takayuki Kanda, Hiroshi Ishiguro
.
Autonomy
is a requirement for a social robot. A completely remote control
led robot cannot be considered to be social since it does not make decisions by itself. It is merely an extension of another human. This does not mean that the robot must be completely autonomous. A semi-autonomy still appears to be acceptable.
Two suggested ultimate requirements for social robots are the Turing Test
to determine the robot's communication skills and Isaac Asimov
's Three Laws of Robotics
for its behavior (The usefulness to apply these requirements in a real-world application, especially in the case of Asimov's laws, still is disputed and maybe not possible at all). However, a consequence of this viewpoint is that a robot that only interacts and communicates with other robots would not be considered to be a social robot: Being social is bound to humans and their society which defines necessary social values, norms and standards. This results in a cultural dependency of social robots since social values, norms and standards differ between cultures.
This brings us directly to the last part of the definition. A social robot must interact within the social rules attached to its role. The role and its rules are defined through society. For example a robotic butler for humans would have to comply with established rules of good service. It should be anticipating, reliable and most of all discreet. A social robot must be aware of this and comply with it. However, social robots that interact only with other autonomous robots would behave and interact according to non-human conventions.
Autonomous robot
Autonomous robots are robots that can perform desired tasks in unstructured environments without continuous human guidance. Many kinds of robots have some degree of autonomy. Different robots can be autonomous in different ways...
that interacts and communicates with humans or other autonomous physical agents by following social behaviors and rules attached to its role. This definition suggests that a social robot
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...
must have a physical embodiment (screen characters would be excluded). Recently some robots have been developed that use a screen to display the robot's head. Such a machine is on the borderline of being a robot. If the body only functions as a holder for the screen then such a system cannot be considered a robot but if the robot has some physical motor and sensor abilities then such a system could be considered a robot.
Background
The field of social robotics was started in the 1940s-50s by William Grey WalterWilliam Grey Walter
W. Grey Walter was a neurophysiologist and robotician.-Overview:Walter was born in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1910. His ancestry was German/British on his father's side, and American/British on his mother's side. He was brought to England in 1915, and educated at Westminster School and afterwards...
, and developed since the early 1990s by artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its...
researchers, most notably, Kerstin Dautenhahn, as well as Maja Mataric, Cynthia Breazeal
Cynthia Breazeal
Cynthia Lynn Breazeal is an Associate Professor of Media Arts and Sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she is the director of the Personal Robots Group at the MIT Media Laboratory...
, Aude Billard, Yiannis Demiris, and Brian Duffy. Also related is Kansai engineering movement in Japanese science and technology --- for social robotics, see especially works by Yoshihiro Miyake, Tomio Watanabe, Hideki Kozima, Takayuki Kanda, Hiroshi Ishiguro
Hiroshi Ishiguro
Professor Hiroshi Ishiguro is director of the Intelligent Robotics Laboratory, part of the Department of Systems Innovation in the Graduate School of Engineering Science at Osaka University, Japan...
.
Autonomy
Autonomous robot
Autonomous robots are robots that can perform desired tasks in unstructured environments without continuous human guidance. Many kinds of robots have some degree of autonomy. Different robots can be autonomous in different ways...
is a requirement for a social robot. A completely remote control
Remote control
A remote control is a component of an electronics device, most commonly a television set, used for operating the television device wirelessly from a short line-of-sight distance.The remote control is usually contracted to remote...
led robot cannot be considered to be social since it does not make decisions by itself. It is merely an extension of another human. This does not mean that the robot must be completely autonomous. A semi-autonomy still appears to be acceptable.
Definition
The definition states that a social robot should communicate and interact with humans and embodied agents. These are likely to be cooperative, but the definition is not limited to this situation. Moreover, uncooperative behavior can be considered social in certain situations. The robot could, for example, exhibit competitive behavior within the framework of a game. The robot could also interact with a minimum or no communication. It could, for example, hand tools to an astronaut working on a space station. However, it is likely that some communication will be necessary at some point.Two suggested ultimate requirements for social robots are the Turing Test
Turing test
The Turing test is a test of a machine's ability to exhibit intelligent behaviour. In Turing's original illustrative example, a human judge engages in a natural language conversation with a human and a machine designed to generate performance indistinguishable from that of a human being. All...
to determine the robot's communication skills and Isaac Asimov
Isaac Asimov
Isaac Asimov was an American author and professor of biochemistry at Boston University, best known for his works of science fiction and for his popular science books. Asimov was one of the most prolific writers of all time, having written or edited more than 500 books and an estimated 90,000...
's Three Laws of Robotics
Three Laws of Robotics
The Three Laws of Robotics are a set of rules devised by the science fiction author Isaac Asimov and later added to. The rules are introduced in his 1942 short story "Runaround", although they were foreshadowed in a few earlier stories...
for its behavior (The usefulness to apply these requirements in a real-world application, especially in the case of Asimov's laws, still is disputed and maybe not possible at all). However, a consequence of this viewpoint is that a robot that only interacts and communicates with other robots would not be considered to be a social robot: Being social is bound to humans and their society which defines necessary social values, norms and standards. This results in a cultural dependency of social robots since social values, norms and standards differ between cultures.
This brings us directly to the last part of the definition. A social robot must interact within the social rules attached to its role. The role and its rules are defined through society. For example a robotic butler for humans would have to comply with established rules of good service. It should be anticipating, reliable and most of all discreet. A social robot must be aware of this and comply with it. However, social robots that interact only with other autonomous robots would behave and interact according to non-human conventions.
Research Laboratories
- Social Robotics Lab, University of Freiburg, Germany
- A*STAR Social Robotics, Singapore
- Social Robotics Lab, National University of Singapore, Singapore
- Interactions and Communication Design (ICD) Lab, Toyohashi University of Technology, Japan
International Journals
- International Journal of Social Robotics
- Interaction Studies: Social Behaviour and Communication in Biological and Artificial Systems