Academics and Research

Feature Articles

Do We Think That Machines Can Think?

Apparently, the answer is yes. In this first-of-its-kind study, researchers from the Clinic for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy at RWTH Aachen University used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to study human interaction and perspective taking during human/machine interactions. The study found that at the neural cortical level during human/machine game play, there is a linear relationship between the ‘human-likeness’ of a robot and the degree to which the interaction is perceived to be human-human by the human participant.

Meet Nexi, the Media Lab’s Latest Robot and Internet Star

The Personal Robotics Group at MIT Media Lab, headed by Director Cynthia Breazeal, known for the famous Kismet expressive robot, has a new star. Nexi MDS (mobile, dexterous, social), is a complete mobile robot with a fully expressive face that can engage directly with humans.

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Penn Engineering Receives Grant to Lead Robotics Consortium

The University of Pennsylvania School of Engineering and Applied Science has received the largest single award in the School’s 156-year history to help create the fundamental networks and technologies that will put unmanned machines on the front lines of battle.

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GTRI Wins Contract to Develop Technology Roadmap for Unmanned and Autonomous Systems

A one-year $430,000 award, funded through the U.S. Army at White Sands Missile Range, has been awarded to Georgia Tech Research Institute for the development of a test and evaluation roadmap for unmanned and autonomous systems. The roadmap will address all five major unmanned and autonomous systems domains, including airborne systems, ground based systems and underwater systems, as well as sea surface and space based systems.