Emotional Robots

In I, Robot (1950), Isaac Asimov explored, in the realm of science fiction, the potential consequences arising from relationships between humans and robots. And with the recent unveiling of Nao, a new humanoid prototype that detects and expresses emotions and is able to form bonds with humans, it seems we are now one step closer in the real world to having robot companions.


At just under two feet tall and able to recognize and adapt to the humans it interacts with, Nao is both technologically fascinating and unsettlingly clever. The robot’s programming, which was developed by a team of scientists at the University of Hertfordshire and gives the machine the ability to adapt to the mood of its human caregiver, is based on observations of attachment behavior in infant humans and chimpanzees
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Nao, with its “personality” development and ability to learn, is one of the most humanlike robots developed to date. It is able to express emotions from sadness, happiness, and excitement to fear and anger, and it even becomes distressed when ignored by its human caregiver in unfamiliar and stressful situations. In many ways, these eerily human emotions harken back to Asimov’s robots. We can only hope that they will abide by the famous Three Laws of Robotics.

The work that led to Nao originated with a project known as FEELIX GROWING (FEEL, Interact, eXpress: a Global appRoach to develOpment With INterdisciplinary Grounding), and refinements on the robot are now being extended in a project called ALIZ-E. The goal of the project is to create companion robots for children in hospital settings as a way of supporting social and emotional health.
(Nao shares similarities in appearance with Honda’s a-emotional humanoid robot Asimo, who is pictured at the 2006 International Automotive Exhibition [China Photos/Getty Images].)