Kismet had unusually large eyes, the ability to rotate its head, cartoon like ears and mouth, and the ability to blink. Nine of the fifteen computers controlled Kismet’s vision system and it quickly identified objects with bright colors, objects with skin tones, and movement of nearby objects. When it was time for Kismet to respond to some, it would raise it eyebrows and break off eye contact, just like humans do. The programs respond to pitch and tone without understanding any of the words. Breazal wanted to learn how ordinary people would respond to Kismet. She would bring research subjects to the lab, attach a microphone to them and instruct them with one simple instruction, “Speak to the robot.’ She was delighted to find that people responded to Kismets social cues.[Learn More ...]

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