... in which Lab researchers teach robots a thing or two – or a thousand – about people.
If we can make a computer that can beat a human at Jeopardy!, then isn’t the long-awaited age of truly humanoid robots just around the corner?
Yes and no. Watson is very smart, but not very sociable. Thanks to a decades-long makeover by Media Lab researchers, robots may soon be fixtures in your daily life: in schools, your local hospital or nursing home, even your home.
And not just any robots, but personal robots that are smart enough to learn about humans, from humans, and express emotions so they can truly help “their” humans.
- Come inside the Personal Robots workshop, a kind of preschool for teaching robots human-like skills—including common sense and reasoning.
- Meet Nexi, one of the first mobile-dexterous-social robots in the world – and trace the long road to get to her.
- Read what the film A.I. and special-effects wizard Stan Winston contributed to the Personal Robots project.
- Hear how your smart phone will become a mini-robot – and a super-smart personal assistant.
- Imagine the possibilities: From helping the elderly live independently longer to comforting a sick child in the hospital to helping you stick to your diet.
