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SUMMARY:Empathizing with Robots - Laurel Riek (University of Cambridge)
DTSTART:20090226T141500Z
DTEND:20090226T151500Z
UID:TALK16525@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Christian Richardt
DESCRIPTION:As robots enter domestic environments in greater numbers it is
  important that people are able to interact with them in a natural way to 
 ensure their acceptance and use. Natural interaction means allowing people
  the ability to communicate with robots in similar ways to how they commun
 icate with other people. One of the most basic forms of human-human commun
 ication is conveyed via nonverbal expressions of empathy. Might people be 
 able to empathize with robots who make similar types of expressions? And\,
  further\, might people empathize with robots shown in distress?\n\nI will
  describe two recent experiments that address these questions. The first w
 as a pilot study (n=6) where subjects interacted with a robot that mimicke
 d their expressions in real time. The second was a larger experiment (n=12
 0) where subjects viewed films depicting humans mistreating robots. Result
 s from both studies show that not only do people empathize with robots\, b
 ut that the more anthropomorphic a robot appears and behaves the stronger 
 the empathetic response. This has important implications for social robot 
 design and helps to inform recent robot ethics quandaries.\n\n<font size="
 1"><i>Image licensed from the Clip Art Gallery on <a href = "http://discov
 eryschool.com">DiscoverySchool.com</a></i></font>
LOCATION:Computer Laboratory\, William Gates Building\, Room SS03
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