Resource: Kismet

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Remarkably, many of the robotic feats that science fiction writers proposed decades ago have become a reality, with a few important differences. Robots perform hazardous duties such as defusing explosives; they paint and wash cars, sell snacks, vacuum floors, and even provide companionship to people. However, these robots perform their functions without feeling, thinking independently, or learning. Instead, the majority of robots are preprogrammed to perform specific tasks in specific locations. Changing either the task or the location requires painstaking reprogramming to reflect the new set of conditions.

In an attempt to build more adaptable robots, researchers at the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology set out to put a human face on computer technology. The result of their work — the robot Kismet — is designed not only to resemble a human, but to use human behaviors and social cues to interact with humans. For example, Kismet is programmed to direct its head and the four cameras it carries toward movement, color, and especially faces. If a stimulus is particularly intense or too close to Kismet's face, the robot pulls away. If activity is far away, Kismet moves forward.

Such actions enable the robot to position its cameras optimally so that they continue to receive information from the outside world. However, because the behaviors are generated by an expressive humanlike face, they mean more to an observer. They convey information to which a human observer can then respond accordingly. In this way, Kismet's developers believe they have opened the door on a new way for robots to learn and adapt, and for humans and robots to communicate with each other.

Kismet's remarkable abilities are not without a price. Kismet senses the world through a microphone and four separate cameras. Ten computers process the incoming information. Twenty-one motors power Kismet's vocalizations, facial expressions, and head movements. Five additional computers control these motors. Every new level of complexity increases the load on Kismet's computers and causes slower responses from the robot. Since even greater complexity would be needed for us to fully communicate with a robot as we do with each other, the team at the Artificial Intelligence Lab will need to continue to push the limits of Kismet's computer system in order to accomplish this goal.

To learn more about robots and the functions they serve, check out Mars Dead or Alive: A Hostile Environment, Anatomy of a Rover, Robot Race, RoboSnail, and Robofly.

To learn about a more simple example of robot programming, check out LEGO® Robots.

Print Discussion Questions

• What design constraints are being used in the development of Kismet?
• How did the engineers test the sociability of Kismet?
• Why do the engineers think sociability is so important in a robot?
• What problem are the engineers trying to solve with the design work that has led to Kismet?