Scientists Send Robots to Charm School [Features]

With the invention of the Roomba vacuum cleaner, it is no longer far-fetched to imagine robots helping us carry out daily chores--not to mention more complex tasks such as assisting surgery. But nobody wants an unpleasant robot in his or her life--any more than one wants to be saddled with a disgruntled human helper. Enter robots with personality, capable of developing emotional relationships with humans.

Sound futuristic? Well, the future could be here sooner than you think. A consortium of researchers, psychologists and computer scientists has just launched a $13-million project dubbed "Living with Robots and Interactive Companions" (LIREC) to study interactions between humans and robots. The goal: to come up with information they can use to design robo-companions with whom people will feel comfortable. "What we are developing is a technology," says project coordinator Peter McOwan,  a computer science professor at Queen Mary, University of London, in England. "We believe it'll improve the quality of human life."

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