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The Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) on Thursday said it has developed Korea's first emotional robots. Kobie and Rabie show emotional reactions, play English word games and even respond to touching.
Kobie looks like a fluffy koala, stretching his body and making a contented sound when gently stroked. It can recognize human faces, make eye contact, and express seven emotions through motions and sounds, including joy, shyness and shock.
Rabie gets its name from its rabbit-like design, and has a built-in "reasoning" system called Bossam. Bossam was developed by ETRI last year and allows the educational robot to play a word guessing game in English. If a person has the word "elephant" in mind, Rabbie will try to guess the word by asking questions such as "does it live inside?" or "is it big?"
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Emotional robots Kobie (left) and Rabie, developed by the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute.
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Kobie and Rabie receive their instructions through a wireless Internet connection. That makes them more affordable than similar robots from other countries that come with pricey computers built-in. "Kobie offers a calming stability, very similar to a normal pet, and we believe it can be used for patients in need of emotional help," said Son Ju-chan, head researcher of ETRI's Knowledge and Inference Research Team.
"Unlike previous educational robots that rely on screens, Rabie offers educational content through communication," Son said. Rabie could be used to look after an empty house or to monitor children as it can take photos and send them to a parent's mobile phone. ETRI has applied for three international patents for the robots and hopes to commercialize them by transferring the technologies to private companies.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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