Robots get Emotional (but not emo)

Two stories this week shows the ever-going robot evolution now includes emotions… or at least some acting ability.

Kokoro’s DER-2 Actroid Makes Acting Debut In Commercial

Story originally from Pink Tentacle. This fifteen second spot for Preshower shows an eerily lifelike (from a distance anyway) fembot whose acting can rival some Oscar contenders:

Will you (heart) Heart Robot? Also, A Robotic Love Story to Rival Wall-E and EVE.

Report from the BBC on July 29. The University of the West of England’s David McGoran has created a robot/puppet that uses a flashing “heart” to show its “emotional state.”

The Heart Robot could be among the first robots to signify a new era of “emotional machines” used for medical treatment and enjoyment, according to one of its inventors.
…
David McGoran, of the University of the West of England, predicts the part-puppet, part-machine creation he helped develop is an example of how robots will increasingly adopt human characteristics.

McGoran hopes to develop more sophisticated “emotional machines” for social care. More information can be found at the Heart Robot Site.

There’s also a video of McGoran taking Heart Robot to see Micromagic Systems’ “ic Hexapod,” a spider-bot with face recognition and tracking. The one on the BBC site may not work, so here’s the one on YouTube (though the first thirty seconds don’t play):