| Show WW I rx A6 NATIONWORM salt Tak l'rit otine 1 Sunday FtCruary 2( )04 Inventor puts a human face on a technological issuei human-lookin- robots g Mn SIAGLI ihe tunctiaini ?too 4 her DALLAS — With sparkling blue eyes wispy f'yylashvs and demure smile Hertz is the center of attention wherever she Joef' goes If you are lucky enough to meet her try to ignore the tangle of wires slinking from behind her face If you speak with her talk slowly and loudly And no matter what you say don't be offended if she looks at you blankly and repeatedly asks "What did you say?" Hertz isn't really a she but rather an it an animated robot head built in about nine months by self titled "sculptor roboti (it" David Hanson Hanson and other robot makers believe social robots will ono day serve a variety of functions: tutor companion VVen security guard Hut should they look human? Hanson who has worked as a designer sculptor and robotics developer for Walt Disney Imagineering Universal Studios and N11V thinks precise human looks are a must Jt are going to effectively communicate with robots Like his previous project Kbut Hanson sculpted Ilertz to resemble his girlfriend Its sheathed in a high-tecpolymer called Hanson invented "frubber" which rest tales human skin The face is eniliedded with tiny electronic motors so Hertz can smile frown or wrin kle its forehead For now Hertz is a face mounted to a wooden stml its disembodied brain a laptop computer Ii has no arms legs or WIN' although Hanson is plan-flinenhancements those somedav lertzs eyes have video cameras enabling it to gaze at a human face and follow you around provided you don't move too quickly or beyond its limited field of vision That and limited speech skills are the extent of hertz's abilit les Despite the embryonic state of his work Hanson insists he is on to something Most people doing social robots believe that human faces will turn people off and will disturb them 1 think that's ridiculous" Hanson said "The human face is perhaps the most natural paradigm for us to interact 104-)pl- with" Most experts disagree They die one of the principles of social robotics the Uncanny Valley theory First described by pioneering Japanese roboticist Masahiro Mori the theory goes like this: a Humans have positive Mktd ote' Ns PTINI TOVI CICTIkRILLZM sculptor roboticist David Hanson says robots such as Hertz an animated robot head will one day perform many tasks He thinks people will be more comfortable interacting with robots if they look human Self-title- d psychological reaction to mbots that look somewhat like humans But if a robot is made to look very realistic but somehow isnt quite right (it has an odd smile or it doesn't blink for example) it seems grotesque instead of comfort in g "Our experience has shown that people quickly lose the suspension of dibelief needed to interact with these mations once they start interacting with them for any length of time because the artificial intelligence is not capable of producing human-levebehavior" said Reid Simmons a researcher at Carnegie Mellon University's Robotics Institute "I strongly believe that this problem would be exacerbated by having a more humanly realistic robot" Science fiction has long taken different approaches to imbue robots with personal appeal In "Star Wars" the blinks were blurps and beeps of trashcanthe to give enough shaped machine a wide range of human emotions such as fear and excitement There was the strikingly human but emotionally clueless Data from "Star Trek: Next Generation" And in 2001's "Artificial Intelligence: Al" unblinking robot boy David Swinton yearned to become real mother so his would love him Hanson apart most of today's roboticists are taking Mori's theory into consideration Sony Corp's 010 robot looks like a young boy in a space suit but Sony researchers say they didn't want to make it too similar to a human "If your design is too close to human form at a certain point it becomes just too uncarmy" Toshitada Doi head of Sony's Intelligent Dynamics Research Institute says on Sony's Web site Others include GRACE short schools GRACE's "face" is a television capable of displaying a range of emotions for Graduate Robot Attending a ConferencE Built by Simmons and researchers at several other flat-scree- n tworiAltal Profs 71w Iran — President Mohammad Khatami suffering severe back pain called off an emergency Cabinet meeting Saturday that was to deal with Iran's deepening crisis over parliamentary elections Earlier in the day the president had suggested his government would not go ahead with the Feb ?A) vote which he called undemocratic because hard-linIslamic clerics have disqualified more than 2400 liberal candidates "My government will only hold competitive and free elections the parliament must represent the iews of the majority and include all 'political tendencies" Khatami said according to the official Islamic TEHRAN pro-refor- we neves stop worksv tot you - m ' ( r- - '- -''' ! g : ' 4 ' ' l - ': ! 7- - ' : - i 't '! - i ! i ' -- ' t - ' '' - 4f ''' t 0 1 "- " 5:7 ' ''' ' "' - ' 11 ‘t ' ' :r ' ' 't r ' i ''''7 - L-- 7 1 1 - '''1 :1 1 ' 1 41 v Republic News Agency Hours later doctors confined Khatami to his home for treatment of what a senior presidential aide said was a longtime back problem exacerbated by stress Iran's main reformist party was swift to emphasize that the president's ailment would not slow its moves to protest a vote it considers a sham The Islamic Iran Participation Front has called a meeting for Monday and is expected to announce a boycott of the polls "The president's physical condition may delay some consultations at the top level of the Iranian leadership but it will have no effect on the political parties or reformist lawmakers a top party official Saeed Shariati said ls'1atti x411144 q) - t 4 P I t- ' It ‘ Li ''''"- s go ) i 1 i I ii ta rl 0 v the best national wireless network now ": '''''''"7"""'''N - 7Alti::4 —4 - I 1' 4—- ' 0' - 1 f I r A c lot - z et v 1r I -- '''"'"-- - " agreement and IXT Messaging capable er: I -- 'ttf - -- - () -- - t i ''11 4 :' 1 t 11:11 1 ' 716' - - k 1 t t i 114 tI 1 '' t 1' t I !:---it--::)!--tt-i 1 ' : '''''' i: 'ti r 1 flV A -- ' i 1 1-'''- : k'''-- : p1 1 I! ) A - I) ' 4 '41'-'A A) ''' '—'1''''—k--- ( I 1 I g 1' o -7 ''- - -- 0 ) 1 ' :' I - : I ' 5 t r'f--- : A I ' - --' 3 1 7 ° L 4 - tt 0 - :i 1'4 - (-- -- 0 ' ! 4 I :- 'I ' - 4 4 ' - ' - 3 4 r0 - Z LiArtit For ovemila delivery to you doorstep: verizonwirelesscom 1'11'0' 0 LI LIVIA Clt I '1 1 iZ t 1' K1 N 12 I ff you're a 1 of 23 LG 8002 )1 JOIN IN: 18002564646: Vets neless oortner play our UT Trivta Chanene forme:Ice to win a 4r rz tt salon TY or 1 )1 t?t '! 6 "":t"R'i" ty "2"i'it'J'' 'rX1 errs are lOtiserul t 2t1recelv rdZ4 camera p!ionts I t -3 v -1 11 VERIZON WIRELESS IMMULINICATKIRS STCRES MIDVALE 1082 E PI Linton Blvd Family Center at F Union henate M l(iosk Center of the malt near Into Booth Ming pok Faction Place Mall 6191 S State St Odle at the malt near Meter A Frank kt OHM University Mall Across nom Center Court into Desk ski' ‘1 ON Sugar hoe Pim LA viiJer e ani tik- tarntanato -f The Gateway 49 S Rio Grande IUD! South Towne Mal East entiano3 2n0 level neat Motet a Frank WEST AMU Plaza Jonian Land 7203 S Plaza Cwmt Di IMO 6 RETAILERS NM My BOSTON Falai MIN OM JORDAN NOW111111 Itout CAW HOLLADAY IA011101411 tIV btu CA& 11111111RIT Dame WEST VALLEY Dome Writiess r4)i : URDY Congo finless 2274 S 1300 E heat horastrom Ftack 8D1442-57b- 7 Mimed Wining i Vrizon Wireless a Proud soma 01 the Utah JalL Plan 4 crecin approval 1175 carmnion tee per fire Wes other charges & restrctions apPly Gustorner Agreement Gail combine gather oilers impetus Consumer tvirmidlos: SUL4011 Senice & oners not available m all area Limited lane otters Dominionsrestrictions apply New Every Iwo Downloads rewire nefivnifi gannectidn in digital wege areal Aertarie & other service: 10-1- 2 & tees aopty Set vervonwtreiesscorntestnetwork 30 number Rebates vanes take wks service where Atm how Efigthillty keep available While supplies rewire days Overnigre delivery tat DI Thee Marls NO PURCliASE NECLSSARy Open to kcal reseerds 13 yrs and Deer m AZ CA CO HI ID MT NM NV OR WA WY & El Paso TX Void where protilbred Odds at winninç & alternate method of Official on Restrictions of Verizon 2129104 vlbescomlwwwestIrtva at number Ends rules on C2004 entries Mogi reamed Wirelet apply entry meld t I -'--'''-' CIP It1611 “L i 1 1 -- - I 0re7 ree'L -- - ' i — t --- - pic ' 0 71 0 CP V 1Z21 iii boi:::M 1 --- 4tr7'" ' ' li L' 5-- t::ir''P ' 0 I 1 : ! - 1- a iikt piT -t- u e1-- 1 pyr gt- agreement Shipping charges apply LI' f--) (-1'- 4 4 tt 9 (1)o” re- - ' ---'- j ) A::I:i t1':f Chat with your buddies and contacts with instant messaging (::::"))1i'S - ''') Lii - l I t ' l'N'IL—At e' '1 !A Shipping Q-' -- it After S50 maim & $6999 instant rebate ‘S11999 activated price) With new Download ring tones games and graphia I - hq 4'114'7''"u"'""'? c123 I (1 rz 1 - 1707er '''''‘ - PIX t j color flip phone 1: — 1 rebate (S14999 activated thAftaerrgess7oapmaplyarin L) -4 ---- and 10)1 - get this great this cool camera phone BLI ' 0"' NENIII 8-- C-- - 1 ' 1 l'::'''' 44 Check out this great deal and get on he - t :: C R2-D- seeking volunteers for a study that nil evaluate in° DA approved high blood prescure medications for use in combinatiot or individually in the treatment of high blood pressure These been approved for individual use medcations sou may quuLfy if y out Are male or female aged l s !lave a diagnosis of "eSSCIllial 1ptriension Can atterki 9 stud) visits over a I 5 neck period SLIf to qualified subjects for time & travel Offices located in Sand) NI Urrd) 114laWi v and Magna Study related melcal cams 14horator) tests and blood measurements pros ided at no cost pressure -- — I r I r- ti' e are r 1 1'7 47 ' I 4- 1 ' '''' 'iI'' — 1 meet" - 1 I 011011v:10 6:II! 4 - "The fact is I will share much more evolutionary history and hence brain circuitry and be-- n havior with my cat than I ever 3 will with a machine intelligence" he said "The Ms we will ly be inventing soon will almost-certainbe the first true alien humans will intelligences vorkonwireless ---- 1ARLINI enthusiast - Khatami calls off Cabinet meeting Aii AKBAR s c C:::Dtzip ci BY For now Hanson is taking a semester off from pursuing his doctoral thesis at the Universit)L so he can tinker of Texas-Dallaa with his hots was on Hertz work Most of the done in his apartment and s funded mostly with student loans Last summer Hanson formed a company Human Emulation Robotics with the hopes of raising venture capitaL "This is like a first step" he said "This looks like a monster because it is a severed head But once you get used to it it's not 1 haven't proven that it's not disturbing yet but I have shown that it is captivating" l No matter what we can expected future social robots to be' more alien than human said' Will Wright creator of The Sims video games and a robots Kismet a product of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Humanoid Robotics Group has exaggerated fuzzy eyebrows big blue eyes and floppy ears but its face is mostly metal and plastic Inventor and author Ray Kurzweil thinks Hanson's work is significant because realistic facial movement will play an important role in the way future androids respond to humans First however robots will have to become significantly more intelligent able to gauge the expressions of the people they encounter Kurzweil estimates that we'll begin to see this human level of artificial intelligence around 2029 Until then he robots will believes be more successfuL "If a robot has a face that is not human then we are more acbecepting of havior as we would with an anior doll" he said mal "Intelligence significantly below that of normal humans stands out more with a robot that looks strikingly human This creates the impression of a human with which impaired intelligence may strike some as disturbing" or freaky? I lanson disputes the idea that people are disturbed by interacting ith Coos It t I POOR C |
