Giggling Robot

Toddlers treated a sophisticated, giggling robot much the same way they did each other during the first long-term study of interaction between kids and robots. Javier Movellan at the University of California San Diego led the project, which involved placing a two-foot-tall robot in a classroom of a dozen toddlers between the age of 18 months and two years. The QRIO robot, developed by Sony, used sensors to stay in the middle of the classroom and avoid bumping into the children, and was initially programmed to giggle when its head was touched, occasionally sit down, and lie down when its batteries died. The way the toddlers touched QRIO on the arms and hands, and gave more attention and care, including hugs, to the robot compared to an inanimate control robot, was viewed as signs of bonding. The researchers also say the quality of the interactions increased over several months, as the toddlers helped QRIO up when it fell, and covered up the robot with a blanket and said "night, night" when its batteries ran out. Although the study shows that kids will bond with robots over a long period of time, Movellan says it is too early to say the same about older children and adults. "This study opens the possibility for classroom applications," says Takayuki Kanda of the Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute in Japan, adding that it could help autistic children.