Actor and politician Arnold Schwarzenegger is not the only one to have said goodbye, in an interview with the Hollywood Reporter, to Terminator, the cybernetic android (disguised as a human) that he has played since 1984. “We are working to change the public perception of robots, presenting them as friendly and cooperative instead of scary like in Terminator”, admitted a team of engineers from the University of California, San Diego. In detail, the group has developed a humanoid robot (here the paper) capable of learning – and quickly performing – various expressive movements: hip-hop choreography, high-fiving, greeting, hugging. All this while maintaining perfect balance on different terrains.
The robot’s strong point? It’s training based on a wide range of human motion data and dance videos. Specifically, engineers trained the lower and upper bodies separately, allowing the robot to replicate different movements from the “hips” up; meanwhile, the legs balance and walk (firmly) on different surfaces. “Through more expressive and human-like body movements, we want to instill confidence and demonstrate that new robots can coexist harmoniously with humans,” says Xiaolong Wang, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering.
Smiling humanoids
Robots increasingly similar to humans, including their skin. A team of scientists from the University of Tokyo has developed an artificial skin that allows humanoids to smile, using “piercing anchors” inspired by human ligaments that facilitate facial expressions. The tissue was created from cultured human cells, has the peculiarity of regenerating and gives the robots a look that is as realistic as it is disturbing.
The research team, whose study is published in the journal Cell Reports Physical Science, has no doubts: what they recreated in the laboratory represents an important step forward in creating humanoids that, in some way, will be able to feel “like human beings”. The new material, in the future, could be able to regenerate and heal itself. Interviewed by the New York Times, Shoji Takeuchi – the researcher at the Institute of Industrial Sciences of the University of Tokyo who led the experiment – explains: “This skin is useful for robots that interact closely with humans”.
Define universal standards
As new robots increasingly attract the curiosity of the public and companies, the international community is increasingly calling for a set of standards that outline the safety and performance parameters of humanoids. Thus, the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society in the United States has announced the formation of a new study group – chaired by Aaron Prather, director of robotics and autonomous systems programs at ASTM International – with the aim of studying the current state of humanoid robots and developing a roadmap for future standards that can be applied by various organizations around the world.
From the US to China, which has presented a set of guidelines aimed at promoting ethical and safe growth in robotics (such as that feared by Hiroshi Ishiguro, professor at Osaka University, according to whom “by 2050, there will be symbiosis between man and avatar”). Developed by five industrial organizations in Shanghai and presented during the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC), the document emphasizes the importance of cooperation and global standardization to create an environment “friendly” to innovation. Guaranteeing security, data protection and respect for human values in the development and use of humanoid robots.