Ready for the Robot Revolution?
From: BBC News (UK) - 10/02/2011
By: Jon Stewart 

Many researchers believe a robot revolution is underway that will soon change
the way society behaves similarly to the way the computer revolution brought
on drastic changes starting in the 1980s. Researchers are developing new laws
for robot behavior and designing new ways for humans and robots to interact.
"I think robotics technology will change who we are, just as eyeglasses and
fire changed who we were before," says Massachusetts Institute of Technology
professor Rodney Brooks. Although there currently are commercially available
robots that can perform everyday tasks, conventional robots are not
humanlike. However, the time is fast approaching when robots will start
looking less like machines and more like humans, says Osaka University
professor Hiroshi Ishiguro. "I'm very excited about the fact that today in
robotics we have machines that are sophisticated enough to be put together
with people in a daily life setting," says University of Southern California
professor Maja Mataric, who is leading a group that is developing robots to
work with stroke patients and elderly people undergoing cognitive changes.
However, users will need to trust robots, and many groups are working on
making it easier for humans and robots to communicate. 

Read the entire article at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-15146053

Links:
Maja Mataric
http://robotics.usc.edu/~maja/

Interaction Lab
http://www-robotics.usc.edu/interaction/

Assistive Human-Robot Interaction
http://www-robotics.usc.edu/interaction/?l=Research:Projects:overview_ahri

The Sociable Robot
http://robotics.usc.edu/~agents/miscellaneous/media/TheSociableRobot.pdf