Starting at 12 months old, infants follow the gaze of others—an instinctive behavior that allows them to learn from observation. But will they track just anyone’s eyes? In a recent study published in Neural Networks, University of Washington psychologist Andrew Meltzoff tested whether infants would follow the gaze of a humanoid robot. One group of 18-month-olds observed an experimenter play a mimicry game with a mobile robot, whereas another group of babies got to know the same robot as it remained completely stationary. Thirteen of the 16 babies who observed human-robot interaction later followed the robot’s gaze as it turned toward a toy, compared with only three of the 16 babies who observed no robot playtime. Infants, it seems, are highly attuned to social information, which they use to constantly update their perception of others—even to change a hunk of metal into a thinking being.
This article was originally published with the title What's That Robot Looking At?.
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Add CommentWhat's next for iRobot, RoboNanny. Think of the savings in daycare costs. Plus, she doesn't get bored or abusive. She could spend the day teaching your kid new languages and skills. The only problem is, she may not be as much fun for dad as the french kind.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisNooooooo! You beat me to it! I was thinking pretty much the same thing.
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