Android science is not just about building robots, but studying human behavior through their interactions with robots. The goal is to develop a robot design that eliminates psychological barriers. Repilee Q2, a realistic robot, is used to explore the Uncanny Valley theory, which suggests that too much realism can trigger revulsion. The challenge is to push back the threshold of the Uncanny Valley to allow for more natural interactions with androids, which can be used to study human relationships and ailments.
Regardless of what the term implies, Android science isn’t simply about designing and building robots. Rather, android science is the design and construction of robots for the purpose of studying human behavior, especially how people interact and react to robots. As robotic science advances, we are getting closer to the day when robots will play everyday roles in our society. The ultimate goal of Android science is to develop a robot design that eliminates any psychological barriers people may have in interacting with robots.
Some argue that the cutting edge of Android science was advanced in Japan, where Hiroshi Ishiguro, director of the Intelligent Robotics Lab at Osaka University, and Karl F. MacDorman, an associate professor at the Indiana University School of Informatics -Purdue University Indianapolis, have created Repilee Q2. Repliee Q2 is a realistic robot, which from a short distance is practically indistinguishable from a small Japanese woman.
However, when Repilee Q2 starts moving, the illusion fades. In his quest to perfect a more realistic android, Ishiguro’s goal is to study human perception. Using androids like Repilee Q2, it seeks to explore, in depth, a key concept in android science: the Uncanny Valley theory, proposed by robotics pioneer Mashahiro Mori in 1970. In essence, the Uncanny Valley theory suggests that more than one robot looks like a human, the more positive a human’s reaction will be. However, by going overboard in trying to produce a truly lifelike robot, you could trigger revulsion among humans.
In explaining the Uncanny Valley theory, MacDornan says the degree to which an android is realistic matters. Recent evidence has shown that these androids are better at eliciting normal human interaction than less realistic animated characters or robots. But, MacDornan points out, humans have a heightened sensitivity to any flaws they may have that make them less human.
Ishiguro and MacDornan pursue android science with the belief that, in the future, humans are destined to interact naturally with androids. The challenge will be to push back the threshold of the Uncanny Valley; but this means much more than saving people from the daily drudgery. They also believe that androids, because they have a physical presence but can be precisely controlled, can be used more effectively than human actors to scientifically study human relationships and ailments which, in turn, will allow them to build better androids.
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