The World's First Expressive Computer
RoCo, the world’s first expressive computer is a robotic computer has a monitor for a head and a simple LCD screen for a face. It expresses itself by using its double-jointed neck, which is equipped with actuators that shift the monitor up and down, tilt it forward and back and swivel it from side to side, An attached camera can detect when its user moves, allowing RoCo to adjust its posture accordingly. RoCo’ was being built, in hope that by responding to a user’s changes in posture, people might be more likely to build up a “rapport” with the computer that will make sitting at a desk all day a little more enjoyable. RoCo’s powers of expression might be harnessed by tuning into users’ moods; the robot might help them get their work done more effectively.
Previous studies have shown that someone’s emotional state can dramatically affect their performance on analytical tasks and that posture can play a role in this; hence in this project, the researchers are looking into how the robot might affect users’ posture while working. RoCo could be programmed to adopt the right posture to foster greater attention and persistence in children, or simply to help improve people’s posture when sitting at a desk. In future, the group also plans to investigate programming RoCo to mimic the posture and gestures of its users, to see if that builds rapport and enhances engagement with the computer, as such behavior is known to do between humans.
Tng Thomson U046231A
