Leonardo (robot)

Leonardo learns through spatial scaffolding. One of the ways a teacher teaches is by positioning objects near to the student that they expect the student to use. This same technique, spatial scaffolding, can be used with Leonardo, who is taught to build a sailboat from virtual blocks, using only the red and blue blocks. Whenever it tries to use a green block, the teacher pulls the “forbidden” color away and moves the red and blue blocks into the robot's space. Leonardo learns, in this way, to build the boat using red and blue blocks only.[7]

Leonardo can also track what a human is looking at. This allows the robot to interact with a human and objects in the environment. Naturally, humans will follow a pointing gesture and/or gaze and understand that what is being pointed at or looked at is the object the other human is concerned with and about to discuss or do something with. The Personal Robots Group has used Leonardo's tracking ability and programmed the robot so it can act human-like, bringing its gaze to an object the human is paying attention to. Matching the human's gaze is one way Leonardo seems to exhibit more natural behavior.[8] Sharing attention like this is one of the ways that allows the robot to learn from a human. The robot's expressions, being able to give feedback on its “understanding” is also vital.

Another way that Leo learns is by mimicry. The same way infants learn to understand and manipulate their world is helpful for the social robot. By mimicking human facial expressions and body movement, Leo can distinguish between self and other. This ability is important for humans in taking each other's perspectives, and it's the same for a social robot. Being able to understand that “others” don't have the same knowledge it has lets the robot view its environment more accurately and make better decisions based in its programming of what to do in a given situation. It also allows the robot to distinguish between a human's intentions and their actual actions, since humans are not exact. This would allow a human without special training to teach the robot.[7]

Leonardo can explore on its own, in addition to being trained with a human, which saves time and is a key factor in the success of a personal robot. It must be able to learn quickly using the mechanisms humans already use (like spatial scaffolding, shared attention, mimicry, and perspective taking). It also cannot require an extensive amount of time. And finally, it should be a pleasure to interact with, which is why aesthetics and expression are so important. These are all important steps in bringing the robot into a home.

Shared attention and perspective taking are two mechanisms Leonardo has access to that help it interact naturally with humans. Leonardo also can achieve something like empathy, however, by examining the data it gets from mimicking human facial expressions, body language, and speech. In a similar way, humans can understand what other humans might be feeling based on the same data, Leonardo has been programmed according to the rules of simulation theory, allowing it to render something like empathy.[9] In these ways, social interaction with Leonardo seems more human-like, making it more likely humans will be able to work with the robot in a team.

Leonardo can work together with a human to solve a common problem as much as his body allows. He's more effective at working shoulder-to-shoulder with a human because of the theory of mind work that is blended with his programming. In a task where one human wants cookies and another crackers from two locked locations and one of them has switched the locations, Leonardo can watch the first human trying to get to where he thinks the cookies are and open a box with cookies, helping him achieve his goal. All of Leonardo's social skills work together so it can work alongside humans. When a human asks it to do a task, it can indicate what it knows or doesn't know and what it can and cannot do. Communicating through expression and gesture and through perceiving expression, gesture, and speech, the robot is able to work as part of a team.[10]