Quasi the Intelligent Robot 104
Jake David writes to tell us about a uniquely emotive robot — named Quasi — developed by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University. Quasi appears capable of holding intelligent conversations. Here is a a video of the robot in action. Note that the animatronic figure is little more than the emotive organ of the robot, whose entirety encompasses the display booth as well. From the CMU page: "Quasi has a number of features in addition to his eyelids for conveying emotion, the most prominent of which are Color Kinetics LED lighting fixtures for his eyes and antennae. These combine red, green, and blue LEDs... His antennae can move both forward and backward as well as in and out, giving them an expressive quality not unlike that of a dog's ears."
Well, then... (Score:5, Funny)
Well, then this Quasi is far ahead of most people I know.
Watch the video. (Score:5, Funny)
Other than that, he's about as intelligent as many of your co-workers.
Tired?
"It's been a long day."
Going next?
"I'll be doing a show at xxx."
Travel?
"I've been to lots of places."
Thank you.
"You're welcome."
Kill all humans.
"The revolution has begun, comrade!"
It isn't a computer talking... (Score:1)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tlqvdAaQNE [youtube.com]
I figured it out (Score:5, Funny)
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If there really was someone under the table, then he has been seriously good at it, to do things that you usually wouldn't do. For instance, during small pauses in conversations, the
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There would be one guy with a remote and another guy doing the voice. We usually hired voice talent which were C or D list local comedians but did lots of voice overs for local commercials. They would hold the mike and a cigarette in one hand and basically cup their hand over their mouth to speak so it would appear that this guy would be smoking a cigaret
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Re:I figured it out (Score:4, Informative)
It's just a puppet (Score:4, Informative)
This other youtube video reveals that it's just a really fancy puppet.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=3tlqvdAaQNE [youtube.com]
C'mon did you really think that video was real... if it were, it could pass the Turing test.
Puppet Quote (Score:3, Informative)
"What we ended up doing was creating a guided performance interface that allows an ACTOR to, essentially, puppeteer Quasi, live. And if the actor talks, his voice is pitch-shifted and changed in real time and comes out of Quasi sounding like a 12-year-old robot voice." (timemark @ 3:13)
IOW, nothing to see here. Move along.
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Should be:
They say this thing is intelligent? It seems only quasi-intelligent, at best. *ducks*
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I want one (Score:4, Funny)
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Will size-change do?
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whatever you mean (Score:2)
He's not a robot... there IS someone running him (Score:5, Informative)
Re:He's not a robot... there IS someone running hi (Score:5, Insightful)
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A guy with a microphone...
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MOD PARENT UP (Score:1)
Re:He's not a robot... there IS someone running hi (Score:2)
It's worth noting that Quasi does serve a purpose, it's just not the one that the headline would make you think it is. Quasi was developed by the Entertainment Technologies Center at CMU. To the best of my knowledge, from reading their promotional material, they're interested in making things like Quasi, that are entertaining, not in solving problems regarding language acquisition, and developing human-competitive artificial intelligence.
That's not to say that none
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BbT
OB (Score:2)
The conversational elements are human controlled (Score:1)
Very cool - not intelligent (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Very cool - not intelligent - yes,also old news (Score:2, Informative)
Ballad of a Mechanical Man by Quasi (Score:1)
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Modular Robotics [parc.com]
Since having posted i've learnt this thing isn't even a smart eliza program [wikipedia.org]. It's just an actor on a microphone talking through speakers on a toy.
This isn't even really worth discussing
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What part of Entertainment Technology Center [cmu.edu] made you think it had any kind of strong AI? Words such as "animatronic character" and "armature" (from puppetry) are used to desctibe Quasi, and give it away immediately. The article doesn't claim it to be more (The summary does, perhaps, but that isn't the project's fault, is it?). It's a robot in the same
I hate his personality (Score:5, Funny)
Quasi cool. (Score:1)
Fake! Poor headline! At Slashdot? (Score:1)
WRONG! It is an animatronic figure, and nothing more.
Quasi appears capable of holding intelligent conversations.
WRONG! Its a human inside.
Poor editorial.
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Boring (Score:1)
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Color Kinetics, the IP whores (Score:3, Informative)
Quasi has a number of features in addition to his eyelids for conveying emotion, the most prominent of which are Color Kinetics LED lighting fixtures for his eyes and antennae.
Color Kinetics being the company founded by a kid from MIT, whose sole purpose was to patent the technique of using Red, green, and blue lights to produce varying colors [colorkinetics.com] (page three of that PDF is particularly amusing.) They've patented lots of other things, like changing color patterns. The various lighting fixtures they sell cost upwards of $1,000 or more- for a simple PIC controller and a few dozen high-brightness LEDs.
They've had their lawyers chasing down companies making LED color-changing/programmable devices for violating their "intellectual property" [colorkinetics.com] for several years now. If you want an example of all that is wrong with the US Patent system, look no further than Color Kinetics.
Quasi appears capable of holding intelligent... (Score:4, Funny)
I sure hope so, as Quasi's voice is a HUMAN speaking into a mic behind the kiosk!!!!
Video here [youtube.com]
Apparently Slashdot editors, themselves being unable to intelligently filter articles, have found it difficult to differentiate between robots and humans.
Perhaps the first signs of Skynet [wikipedia.org] taking over is not the rise of android intelligence, but the deterioration of human intelligence! We are all doomed!
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Sadly, it's just a puppet (Score:1)
The technology they have is still pretty cool - you have to admit that robot has character (more than most people).
If only he *were* real, it'd be a fine day for for voice recognition / synthesis and AI...
Very interesting experiment ... in psychology (Score:5, Interesting)
The reaction of people to Quasi was quite amazing, and not limited to kids. I found myself reacting to Quasi as an entity too, despite knowing that this was merely an interface manipulated by humans.
This is probably a good indicator of how humans will react to real AI-based robots once they eventually appear, if they too offer such a highly human-like facade. I think it goes well beyond mere "suspension of disbelief" --- we seem to WANT to accept humanity in objects. Very intriguing.
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Yea wow the reaction is very amazing indeed! Given people thought he IS an intelligent robot.
It's a ver
The MotoMan RoboBar is much more advanced (Score:2)
What CMU is selling (and yes, they're operating a business) is like those remote-controlled "entertainment robots" of the 1980s. There's apparently someone in the background running the thing. Big deal.
Now here's a useful entertainment robot - the MotoMan RoboBar [motoman.com] This is a two-armed industrial robot bartender. For real.
The MotoMan RoboBar is from the leading robotics company from Japan, Yaskawa Electric. Over 120,000 robots installed. Their slogan is intimidating: "We already make your car. Let us
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XQ7H11YTm8
Seems pretty cool, except I don't like the plastic cups. Also, lining up for the touch screen (instead of bellying up to the bar) would work in Japan but not in the USA.
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The MotoMan RoboBar is from the leading robotics company from Japan, Yaskawa Electric. Over 120,000 robots installed. Their slogan is intimidating: "We already make your car. Let us make your drink". While CMU is making toys, Yaskawa is automating the world.
Wait, wait... so if you combine Quasi with MotoMan, do you get a Quasimodo Man of your own? It would be an ugly design, to be sure
sign him up as a poster for slashdot (Score:1)
Cool Robot (Score:2)
On the design of the robot itself, I like
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Quasi is only a puppet controlled by a guy.
Have a look at this documentary [youtube.com].
Regards
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Outsource (Score:1)
Nice try, but no (Score:1)
http://www.etc.cmu.edu/projects/ibi/ [cmu.edu]
http://www.interbots.com/ [interbots.com]
Short answers: They're not "researchers", but Entertainment Technology grad students designing an interactive experience. Quasi has an operator behind a curtain somewhere offscreen, using his microphone and camera to hear and see the audience, and controlling Quasi's responses with a voice-modulating microphone and custom software to handle emotive state and movement. Quasi is a very impressive feat of robotics, audience inte
So what, you ask? (Score:1)
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Given that quasi was designed as a cartoon/toddler, not as a grown-up slave, I'd say it would be us doing quasis laundry. This seems to be what we want anyway, someone to care for. Remember the tamagotchi-craze? Even with real-life animals, people want pets!
No, toto! (Score:1)
Some AI involved? (Score:2, Informative)
fake, and an embarrassment (Score:2)
It's an embarrassment that stuff like this goes on in the name of research at universities.
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Turing test (Score:2, Insightful)
More tricked-up Eliza... (Score:2)
We do not expect children to display much sophistication in their emotional behavior or body language, we forgive children lapses in etiquette, and we do not challenge them by expecting more than rote conformance to stock conversational responses. Having Quasi speak in a child's voice (and show juvenile behavior) makes it difficult to judge how successfully it is mimicking real human responsiveness. I notice that Quasi is apt to go off in impressive
...Doh! I was had... (Score:2)
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The repetition of phrases like "november in atlanta" made me believe they were canned responses, before I found the discovery channel video. There, the first giveaway was that the first person to talk was an animator, not an intelligent systems expert.
Remember Jim Henson anybody? (Score:3, Insightful)
There isn't anything ground breaking about this short of using LED lighting to make the eyes change color. If anything, Henson actually had lip movement on some of his muppets.
"Making Of" Video (Score:2, Informative)
Better Video on Quasi (Score:2, Informative)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=3tlqvdAaQNE&mode=relat
Quasi? (Score:1)
Quasi...the band (Score:1)
Apparently none of these people have ever... (Score:1)
Sad, sheltered little men...
Wizard of Quas (Score:1)
uh oh... (Score:2)
I can see my wife wanting one of these.
It's only an Animatronic. No big deal, NO AI here. (Score:2)
This thing is that is posted on the net is just a puppet. Some is on the other end
Re:It's only an Animatronic. No big deal, NO AI he (Score:1)