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Below are the first 10 and last 10 pages of uncorrected machine-read text (when available) of this chapter, followed by the top 30 algorithmically extracted key phrases from the chapter as a whole.
Intended to provide our own search engines and external engines with highly rich, chapter-representative searchable text on the opening pages of each chapter.
Because it is UNCORRECTED material, please consider the following text as a useful but insufficient proxy for the authoritative book pages.
Do not use for reproduction, copying, pasting, or reading; exclusively for search engines.
OCR for page 1
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Introduction
Creature Creator
When you hear the word "robot," you might think of futuristic
machines that battle each other in the movies or furry toy pets
that answer commands. But there's another exciting world where
robots do more than entertain. Cynthia Breazeal lives and
thrives in that world. She is a roboticist, a scientist who designs,
programs, and experiments with robots.
Cynthia's mission is to build innovative robots that can work
and learn in cooperation with people--but not as servants or
tools. She wants robots to make our lives better through their
abilities, social skills, and even "personalities." By creating life-
like machines, Cynthia is also making interesting discoveries
about our own human behavior.
Cynthia has applied her engineering and computer programming
skills to incredible robotics projects: Attila, Hannibal, Cog, Kismet,
and Leonardo are known throughout the world. They are also
examples of Cynthia's strong creative talent that allows her to
combine art and science in groundbreaking ways. To many, this
makes her a visionary--a person who can imagine things that
don't yet exist.
How did Cynthia become a world-famous roboticist? What
challenges did she face along the way? As you read her story,
you'll soon see how Cynthia's curiosity, creativity, and competitive
spirit helped her achieve her dreams.
ix
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It was a time
when herrobot pal
seemed almost
alive.
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1
VISITING AN OLD FRIEND
S ince April 2003, a cartoonish-looking robot named Kismet
has been one of the star attractions of an exhibit entitled
"Robots and Beyond: Exploring Artificial Intelligence."
Most people who view this display at the Massachusetts Institute
Cynthia Breazeal
of Technology (MIT) are amazed and awed by the idea of a shows her silly side
"lifelike" robot. They are also impressed by the videos of Kismet at MIT in May 2000
(above). Hours
in action. But one visitor looks at Kismet in a very different way.
before, she had
Cynthia Breazeal feels an odd mix of pride, melancholy, and defended her thesis
nostalgia when she stops by the exhibit. Why? Kismet was one of research about a
robot named
the robots Cynthia created as a graduate student at MIT. And
Kismet (opposite).
although she is thrilled and honored that Kismet is such an
important part of the exhibit, a wistful feeling hits Cynthia when
she realizes that, in many ways, Kismet is no more.
All that remains of Kismet is its head and neck. (Okay, it never
actually had a body.) Kismet's brilliant "brain" is gone. That's
because the 15 networked computers that once ran the robot's
motors, sensors, and programs belong to MIT's Computer Science
and Artificial Intelligence Lab (CSAIL). Other graduate students
have commandeered these computers to run software for their own
robot projects. As a result, Kismet is no longer an active robot.
1
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The MIT Museum visitors who stare at Kismet's motionless face
might wonder why the Guinness Book of World Records named it the
WORLD "World's Most Emotionally Responsive Robot." But Cynthia Breazeal
In April 2003, knows why. She remembers Kismet's glory days--when those big
schoolchildren
visited the MIT blue eyes, fuzzy eyebrows, and red rubbery lips reacted to the
ROBO
Museum in honor sound of her voice. It was a time when her robot pal seemed
of the addition of almost alive.
Kismet's head to
the museum's Back in 2000, when Kismet lived in Cynthia's workspace on
collection. the ninth floor of the AI Lab, meeting the robot face to face was a
completely different experience.
Cynthia and her team spent years
designing Kismet so that it could
notice and respond to human
social cues. If you had met Kismet
then, you probably would have
been astonished.
In those days, Kismet seemed
to know what people were saying.
For example, if you walked into
the lab and casually asked, "Hey,
what's up, Kiz?" the robot would
crane its neck in your direction.
As you moved closer, its big blue eyes would make eye contact
with you and follow your movements. If you said in a sweet,
singsong voice, "You are such an adorable robot!" Kismet's face
would move closer and smile. But if you scolded Kismet with a
stern "Bad robot!" Kismet would pull back in fear.
Of course Kismet could not actually understand English--or any
other language, for that matter. Thanks to Cynthia's innovative
programming, however, Kismet was able to use pitch and tone to
recognize the emotional quality in peoples' voices and respond
accordingly. The robot's face could express a variety of "emotions,"
including happiness, sadness, anger, surprise, disgust, and even
exhaustion.
Because Kismet was so expressive, it was sometimes hard to
remember that the robot couldn't actually "feel" anything the way
humans and animals do. But that was a sign that Cynthia's project
2
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was a success. Cynthia was trying
to create a robot that could imitate
the emotional behavior of a human
infant. Her mission was to build a
mechanical creature that could use
its facial expressions and babbling
voice to communicate with humans
in a spontaneous, lifelike manner.
The people who met Kismet were
often astounded that Cynthia had
achieved this ambitious goal. At
times, the accomplishment amazed
Cynthia herself. But the idea of
making a robot had been simmer-
ing in her head for decades.
Back in 1977, when Cynthia was ten years old, she watched a When Cynthia saw
thrilling new movie. It was the original Star Wars. Like so many the original Star Wars,
she fell in love with
other kids, Cynthia was fascinated by the movie's robot heroes,
the human-like
R2-D2 and C-3PO. Cynthia daydreamed that one day she would qualities displayed by
create a robot as charming, engaging, and R2-D2 (left), a spunky,
resourceful robot.
intelligent as those two `droids.
Cynthia (above) chats
Little did Cynthia know that her with Kismet, as it
daydream would start to become responds to the social
cues coming from her
reality within just a dozen years.
voice and movement.
The word "kismet" comes from
the Turkish word for "fate."
After seeing the lovable robots
in Star Wars, was Cynthia
destined to become a visionary
robotic scientist? Who knows?
But one thing is for sure:
Cynthia's boundless curiosity,
bold determination, and love of
adventure have kept her on an
exciting path of discovery from
the very beginning.
VISITING AN OLD FRIEND 3
Representative terms from entire chapter:
star wars
