.jpg) |
Staff Reporter
When a finger pokes its belly, the startled koala bear waves his four legs with its body still laid prone. Then he grumpily turns his face to see who did this.
Kobie, a fluffy robotic pet made by the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI), is able to show such emotional reactions to touches and voice, and can even recognize human faces, the researchers said on Thursday.
It is by far the most advanced robotic pet made in Korea, and is not far behind similar ones made in Japan and the United States. Though there is no plan for mass production yet, the ETRI researchers believe that Kobie has opened the door to produce smarter, friendlier and more affordable robotic companions for humans.
``When you slap Kobie once, he acts as if he is surprised. But when you keep hitting him, then he begins to show that he is scared and frightened,'' said Sohn Joo-chan, head researcher of ETRI's Knowledge and Inference Research Team. ``He can calculate whether you like him or not.''
The secret of such shrewdness is its wireless communication function. When the tactile, light, audio and posture sensors hidden in Kobie's puffy body receive certain signals, they are wirelessly transmitted to a nearby server station, such as a home PC.
The server then analyzes the signals and sends back appropriate orders to Kobie's body. By placing Kobie's brain apart from its body, it became lighter, more energy-efficient, and cheaper to produce. Kobie can be manufactured at a cost of around one million won, while other smart robot pets that have built-in brains cost at least three million won and are much heavier, Sohn said.
Some may imagine that the technology can lead to dreadful results.
``Roughly speaking, it is similar to the relation of humanoid robots and the mainframe computer in the movie `I, Robot,''' he said. In the 2004 sci-fi movie, a massive supercomputer server goes insane, and takes control of thousands of humanoid robots by using wireless communication systems to revolt against humans.
Unlike the movie's maniac robots, modern robot pets such as Kobie are designed to make people feel emotionally attached to them. Many scientists refer to such robots as ``Mental Commitment Robots,'' and are trying to use them in healing mentality ill people.
A number of robotic pets have been introduced so far in and out of Korea, though most of them are in their rudimentary stages. One of the most advanced developments is Pleo, made by American toy company Ugobe. Scheduled to hit the market before Christmas in the United States, the $350 baby dinosaur is stuffed with 38 sensors and responds to human touch with spontaneous and fluid actions.
One last question arises: Why did ETRI engineers select a koala when there are many more familiar animals such as dogs, cats or horses?
``Koalas are known as lazy and slow animals that sleep a lot,'' Sohn said, adding that his team bought a koala doll in Australia and stuffed its inside with all the electronic and mechanical devices. ``If you make a dog robot, people will expect it to act like a dog. But the motors are not good enough for that. We will have to wait until we have more advanced motors to make a robot dog.''
indizio@koreatimes.co.kr
![[INTERVIEW] Virtual K-pop group MAVE: is more than just pretty pixels](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/bcc387606cf7451c94f51a5978960c9f.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
![[INTERVIEW] 'Cobweb' director questions meaning of cinema](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/a029c9ea411f4aef94c6310f6a7c3c54.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
![[INTERVIEW] Seoul's increased art market momentum brings Sotheby's back to Korea](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/3439cc1e2d744b85ab81fdcf6f045ba5.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
