Projects in NorwAI

The human robot

In the age of social media, the logical consequence is to make robots, yes, precisely, ..social.
So the research and innovation center NorwAI is, as one of the first in Norway, in the process of programming a social robot that with facial expressions, facial features and human-like behavior can talk with you - and remembers conversations as context for a more natural interaction. 

The two "summer research assistants" Christian Riksvold and Lars Ådne Heimdal at NorwAI have spent the summer weeks getting to know the very latest generation of robots.

- We are given quite free reins in a slightly open task to begin with. Initially we have used data about NTNU, SINTEF and Trondheim to feed the robot. It can have a conversation about these topics, the two researchers say.

Undoubtedly, a lot has happened since Michelangelo in 1495 made sketches of a mechanical, visor-clad robot knight - sketches that were rediscovered and tested 70 years ago. Today's social knight is of Swedish origin from the brand Furhat. NorwAI's computer knight has not yet been given a name. But it seems surprisingly lifelike with a face-like mask in bust shape. This can, with facial expressions and other facial movements, help to give the dialogue a new dimension.

- It nods, for example, when it greets you. It shows a kind of emotion when it "sees" you as opposed to simple question-answer dialogue with older chatbot editions, says Christian Riksvold.

Christian Riksvold and Lars Ådne Heimdal have focused on setting up a dialogue system for the robot this summer. The system is able to retrieve relevant documents when asked a question. This is done using a vector-based similarity score, which compares the question with every document in a database and gives them a score describing how relevant the document is for the question. Next the system tries to extract the answer from the top-scoring document. In the next round, the language models will be fine-tuned on data from NTNU, SINTEF and Trondheim, abstract answer possibilities will, for example, be added and also increase its ability to give answers to questions that require knowledge across documents.

What can such a 3-dimensional robot contribute in terms of innovation?
- I think Furhat specifically has the possibility to improve the user experience when speaking with chat bots. Furhat with its physical presence is able to look at you while you speak as well as react with facial expressions. This opens up the door to a more natural dialogue, where the robot can react more appropriately to human behavior and signals. A simple example of this is when you smile at the robot, it smiles back at you. When it comes to concrete applications, we must admit that we have so far worked more on the setup rather than to think of smart application areas, says Lars Ådne Heimdal.

However, the manufacturer Furhat believes that the applications will be found within a range of activities such as social training via education and services to the entertainment sector. For NorwAI's part, the intention is to be able to show the robot in use in connection with the AI Center's upcoming conference NorwAI Innovate 20-21 October later this year.