March 17, 2008

The “Phobot,” a robot designed by a team of students from the University of Amsterdam, was voted the public’s favorite at a conference on human-robot interaction in Amsterdam on March 15.

The Phobot won the crowd over with antic displays intended to mimic human phobias.

When first exposed to a fear-inspiring object — in this case a menacing larger robot — the Phobot retreats and then spins in circles in apparent panic.

Later, the robot is able to overcome its “fear” by first being exposed to small robots and working its way up to larger ones, and mimicking the psychological principle of “graded exposure.”

A total of seven teams from around the world attended the competition.

By People’s Daily Online

See a video here.

It feels better if you hold its hand? It’s a little creepy if you ask me. Also in development is Zeno, the robot boy companion.

He has everything he needs to become your friend; he sees, hears, talks and remembers who you are. He even walks and performs amazing stunts. His face is soft like yours so he can show emotions, just like you–happy, sad, puzzled, and lots more. Operate him by himself and see a few of his antics, or let him link to your computer wirelessly so he can have complete conversations with you! Plus, if you use your computer to help Zeno connect to the internet, he can keep learning and growing smarter. He’ll even help you learn about the world around you.

Riley, Boozy, you are both in my racing thoughts and pounding heart. Will, you would probably cry but enjoy yourself while playing this game (if you even read this?). I’m tempted to stop until you are all home from school so that we can chill on the couch in the dark and have massive heart failure together. I’ve only played for about ten minutes so far and I already have a stress headache.

For those of you that don’t know what I’m talking about, it’s a video game series called Silent Hill. Now, I get scared pretty easily, but not usually in video games. Resident Evil, Fatal Frame, and Parasite Eve were good games, and I jumped a few times, but usually I can still detach myself. But not with the Silent Hill games. I’m seriously SO into what’s happening I find myself with stress headaches. It’s not as fun to play alone though, so I’m usually huddled in the dark on the couch and freaking out with people, like I was tonight.

Anyway, thank you Tom for getting me into these.
Anna, you should give them a shot because it’s totally your cup of tea.
Diane, you and Todd must continue the tradition. Do it.
Jei, thank you for bringing it home and putting up with your whimpy, scared girlfriend.