June 27, 2009
A robot which can express seven different human emotions has been unveiled in Japan.The Emotional Humanoid Robot, named Kobian, can show feelings including delight, surprise, sadness and dislike.
Kobian uses motors in its face to move its lips, eyelids and eyebrows into various positions, reports the Daily Telegraph.
Scientists at Waseda University in Japan have also programmed it to adopt different poses to back up its expressions.
To express delight, for example, the robot puts its hands over its head and opens it mouth and eyes wide.
To show sadness, Kobian hunches over, hangs its head and holds a hand up to its face in a gesture of grief.
It was developed and unveiled by researchers at Waseda's Graduate School of Advanced Science and Engineering in Tokyo.
There are plans for it to be further developed and then possibly deployed into the field of nursing where its expressiveness would help it interact with patients.
