ROBOTS AT HOME

Having robots around to do the laundry sounds like a great idea. But will they be polite? And how will you teach them not to always have the TV remote control?

In only three years’ time, there will be more than four million robots in domestic service in homes throughout the world! That’s according to the latest United Nations report. But how can you teach a robot social skills?

A research group at Hertfordshire University’s School of Computer Science is trying to answer this question. Advances in technologies are making the dream of household robots a reality that is closer than we may think.

In the very near future, robots could be as common as vacuum cleaners and blenders, so their ‘personalities’ are going to be important. That is why the Hertfordshire University group hired behavioural psychologists to work alongside programmers and electronics engineers.

The team is doing experiments in which robots communicate with people, help them with various tasks, and even play with children. Observations and surveys are showing that the person’s own personality type, age and gender influence their ideas on robots. Service robots should really be able to understand different types of people and react accordingly – much as we do ourselves.

Scientists are planning to create guidelines for robots when technology makes robots ready to share a house with people. And for when people are ready to share a house with robots. How long will that be? It might take five years, it might take twenty or more.

However long, it is probably inevitable. In addition to all of these, it is also good to note that large companies including Dyson, Electrolux and Hoover, are seriously investing in home robotics.