What are humanoid robots currently capable of?
A little walking, a slow wave of their arms and simple tasks like kicking a ball. Dream Force 01 by Takara (better known for its Transformer range of toys) can perform simple tasks around the house. The robot has an in-built digital camera so it can take a quick tour of the house to check things are okay, and it is capable of pouring its owners a drink when they return home. But it’s more a novelty than a useful tool. Rodney Brooks, director of the artificial intelligence laboratory at MIT and co-founder of iRobot, a provider of robot products, believes that the convergence of humans and robots with other technologies is `inevitable’. Research is underway at MIT to create robots that are more like humans and that will respond to social and verbal clues. Brooks’ team has created a robot which, when praised, responds with a smile and, when criticised, drops its eyes in shame. But this is only the beginning and robots could grow to be autonomous, says Brooks. “Robots are not really artifi
