Roboreceptionist

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

Delivered-To: dfarber+ () ux13 sp cs cmu edu
Date: Thu, 19 Feb 2004 15:52:12 -0600
From: David Bolduc <dbolduc () scmplaw com>
Subject: Roboreceptionist
To: "Dave Farber (E-mail)" <dave () farber net>

After this, are we expected to believe that the owner of this list is human? ;)

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20040219/D80QCJ280.html
University Unveils Robot Receptionist

Feb 19, 9:34 AM (ET)

By JUDY LIN

PITTSBURGH (AP) - She might not be paid, but Carnegie Mellon University's 
newest staff member does all that a typical receptionist should: gives 
directions, answers the phone - even gossips about her boss.

"Valerie" is considered the world's first robot receptionist with a 
personality, university officials said Wednesday. The blonde roboceptionist 
interacts with people by talking about her boss, her psychiatrist and her 
dream of being a lounge star.

"We wanted to give her an underdog character, struggling to make it in a 
world of humans," said Kevin Snipes, 26, a graduate student in drama 
writing, one of four writers who came up with Valerie's fictional 
character. "After a while on the job, she gets testy. But she can be 
charming too."

The school-funded project is the result of a 2 1/2-year collaboration 
between Carnegie Mellon's computer science and drama departments with a 
goal of creating a socially skilled robot that engages people. Officials 
say the robot has potential commercial applications and the drama 
department may incorporate it in a musical cabaret - despite her limited 
tone and pitch.

"She has no idea she's awful," Snipes said.

Valerie is a drum-shaped contraption with a digitally animated face that 
appears on a computer display, perched in a custom-made booth at the 
entrance of a computer science hall.

With her ability to detect motion, she greets visitors as they approach. 
Type in a question on a keyboard and she dispenses directions around the 
Pittsburgh campus and fills visitors in on the weather.

Eventually her creators would like to install face and voice recognition, 
and make Valerie more lifelike by taking her "face" off a flat-screen monitor.

Valerie, however, does have her limits. Visitors have to type on a keyboard 
to communicate with her, and she understands only simple questions.

"What we don't have is a robot with the type of understanding people do 
(about their surroundings)," said Reid Simmons, research professor at the 
university's Robotics Institute. "It's creating illusions that this robot 
is really more socially aware than it is."

---

On the Net:

Roboceptionist: http://www.roboceptionist.com

Carnegie Mellon University: http://www.cmu.edu 

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