Case histories

Anthropomorphism has not only been investigated in research contexts, it can also be found in a variety of instances in the commercial arena. The most simple occurrences are toy-like items that playback sound on certain events, e.g. triggered by a remote control, or devices that allow to record personal messages to render such recordings afterwards. For example parrot that repeats twice whatever is recorded, or a cookie jar that sings when opened (see Figure 3.40)7.

Earlier instances were baby dolls that emanate sounds whenever turned upside down. While the traditional model was purely mechanical, modern variations are electronically

7

Figure 3.40: Left: The singing cookie jar - Right: The talking parrot

driven and are able to distinguish more states than these two. Plastics ducks that squeak when squeezed are also well known and even combine tangible input and anthropomorphic feedback on a very simple level.

Other products have been designed to foster some sort of relationship with their users, often by requiring care taking in order to develop and flourish or by engaging in social forms of interaction. Oftentimes these artefacts also change their behaviour over time or at least provide a highly diverse set of expressions in order to provide a sense of uniqueness or personality. The probably most popular but at the same time the most simple example is the Tamagotchi, a small device with a monochrome low resolution display that shows a creature’s lifecycle, starting with hatching from an egg and ending with its death.

Figure 3.41: Left: Tamagotchi, Right: Furby (sources:

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamagotchi and http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Furby)

3.3. ANTHROPOMORPHIC AND ANIMALISTIC INTERFACES 85

needs such as food or entertainment, which can be supplied by pushing the appropriate button (see left part of Figure 3.41). Furby is a stuffed animal shown on the right of Figure 3.41, which has been produced by Hasbro. It is equipped with sensors that recognise touching the stomach, back and head and also sounds and movement in the environment. It rudimentarily recognises interaction, for instance if it’s being talked to or being caressed. The creature reacts with movements of its eyes, mouth and/or ears. Furthermore, Furby has a voice chip with ”furbish” vocabulary, i.e. words that have been invented for this toy. These words are consecutively unlocked on each development stage that are reached by playing with it and feeding it.

Figure 3.42: Sony’s AIBO (sources: http://commons.wikimedia.org/ and http://www.robotstoreuk.com)

A much more sophisticated device is Sony’s AIBO robot (discontinued), which can be seen in Figure 3.42. AIBO imitates the behaviour of domestic dogs, including walking on four legs, nonverbal communication through ear and tail movements, rolling on the floor etc. The robot also incorporates emotions such as happiness and anger and basic instincts such as the need for companionship. It basically operates autonomously and responses to external stimuli. AIBO can also learn and develop depending on praise and scolding behaviour of the user. For these purposes, the robot-toy is equipped with camera, microphones (including a speech recognition engine) and also touch sensors. Another important aspect of AIBO is its programming interface, which allows to reconfigure and program its behaviour from scratch. Several years ago, Friedman et al. have examined AIBO related forums and found that 28% of participants reported having an emotional connection to their robot and 26% reported that they considered the robot a family member or companion [Friedman et al., 2003]. It was also noted in the analysis of their studies that AIBO evoked perceptions of life-likeliness

and mental states, but it seldom evoked conceptions of moral standing. In this sense, AIBO owners could enjoy their affection on AIBO, feeling a sort of companionship and potentially other psychological benefits, but at the same time decide to ignore it whenever convenient or desirable.

Figure 3.43: Placement of Pleo’s sensors (source: http://www.pleouk.co.uk)

The Pleo robot of Innvo Labs (previously manufactured by Ugobe) is another commercial robotic toy that learns and develops over time. This device has the physical form of a young dinosaur and consists of a mechanical frame covered by rubber skin. It is driven by 14 motors, includes two speakers and makes use of a series of sensors, including eight capacitive touch sensors, two infrared distance sensors, a tilt sensor, two microphones and a camera (see Fig. 3.43). One ARM7 32-bit processor acts as the main controller, while another one is responsible for image processing. The default software of Pleo is programmed to develop through the three life stages hatching, infant and juvenile. The first two stages are completed within one hour, resembling its ”birth” and first attempts to move and interact with its environment. After that Pleo remains in the juvenile stage, in which it interacts according to its internal motivational model.

In an exploratory long term study focusing on everyday interaction with Pleo, Fer- naeus et al. have observed that participants were treating Pleo in several ways as if it were a real animal, e.g. by giving it names, petting it and displaying emotions towards it [Fernaeus et al., 2010]. But it has also been shown that these activities generally did not suf- fice to maintain a long-term interest in the toy, such that after a while it has been put back to