Emotional Intelligence

European scientists have unveiled Nao, a robot that is capable of mimicking human emotions and correctly identifying and responding to negative and positive emotions in other people. “Nao is able to detect human emotions through a series of non-verbal ‘clues’, such as body-language and facial expressions, and becomes more adept at reading a person’s mood through prolonged interaction. It uses video cameras to detect how close a person comes and sensors to work out how tactile they are. The wiring of the robot’s ‘brain’, designed to mirror the neural network of the human mind, allows it to remember its interactions with different people and memorise their faces. This understanding, along with a set of basic rules about what is ‘good’ and ‘bad’ for it, allow the robot to indicate whether it is ‘sad’ or ‘happy’.”