In the future, robots and smart machines will better assist us in our daily lives. With the ageing population of Japan in particular, these machines will become more and more necessary to fulfil our needs.
The focal point of our work can be said to blend together two key elements:
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•Capabilities - the incorporation of capabilities to high performance multi-functional robots.
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•Communication - development of natural communication mechanisms for the better utilisation of these robots.
In our communication research we are investigating ways to improve communications between humans and machines - in particular, we are looking at “non-verbal” aspects of communication. In our studies we examines various approaches to naturally convey or “communicate” with humans, our earliest works includes generation of natural full-body gestures with our humanoid robot, i-1.
i-1 is a multi-functional high performance humanoid robot, capable of seeing with its stereo cameras, hearing with its stereo microphones, it has 50 degrees of freedom.
