Apple has shared a first-look at its prototype of a new robot lamp which looks just as cute as the one that graces the opening titles of Pixar films.
The insights came from a research paper titled ‘ELEGNT: Expressive and Functional Movement Design for Non-Anthropomorphic Robot’ from the Machine Learning Research team.
The paper explores the design and prototyping of a lamp-like robot that “explores the interplay between functional and expressive objectives in movement design.” The hardware design process is also detailed, along with a number of scenario storyboards.
The robot, however, doesn’t look like the ones we’ve become accustomed to from other companies as it takes a lamp format rather than aiming to look like a human.
Your home could soon have a real-life Pixar lamp.
Apple’s latest robot prototype offers a peek into the future of home tech. A team of researchers developed a lamp-like robot with lifelike movements, designed to be more engaging than traditional robots.
In a recent video, the… pic.twitter.com/gINHwwN7Xb
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It appears the research has been conducted to try and create a robot with a movement design that can “integrate expressive qualities—such as intention, attention, and emotions—alongside traditional functional considerations like task fulfillment, spatial constraints, and time efficiency.”
Apple creates lamp robot that can act excited and show emotion
While still only in the prototype stage, the robot has been put through its paces as the team explored different behaviors. Within the initial state, the lamp is observing and can light up.
It can also communicate intention by approaching the person talking to it, as well as displaying attention by looking up at them or gazing at an object. Attitude can be shown by nodding along when in agreement.
The robot can dance and show it’s excited by shaking, which shows emotion too.
After looking at a user study comparing expression-driven versus function-driven movements across six task scenarios, the findings suggest that expression-driven movements enhance user engagement and perceived robot qualities.
The robot was even described as embodying a “sense of humor” and was “fun to watch” by participants involved in the study.
Throughout the paper, it’s clear the use of expressive movements was valued but not all were appreciated. Some said the expressive behaviors of the robot could be “too exaggerated” which could result in it being distracting or disturbing.
Featured Image: Screenshot via Apple Machine Learning Research
