In industry and medicine, robots routinely build, break down and inspect things; they also assist in surgery and pharmacies. Neither they nor "social" robots—which are designed to engage with people and to establish an emotional connection—behave like The Jetsons' maid, Rosie, or other beloved robots of fiction. Even so, expect social robots to become more complicated and popular in the next few years.
Like most robots, social robots use artificial intelligence (AI) to decide how to act on information received through cameras and other sensors. The ability to respond in ways that seem lifelike has been informed by research into such issues as how perceptions (认知) form, what constitutes social and emotional intelligence, and how people understand others' thoughts and feelings. Advances in AI have enabled designers to translate such psychological and neuroscientific (神经学的) insights into algorithms (演算) that allow robots to recognize voices, faces and emotions; interpret speech and gestures; respond appropriately to complex verbal and nonverbal cues; make eye contact; speak conversationally; and adapt to people's needs by learning from feedback, rewards and criticisms.
In consequence, social robots are filling an ever expanding variety of roles. A 47-inch humanoid called Pepper (from SoftBank Robotics), for instance, recognizes faces and basic human emotions and engages in conversations via a touch screen in its "chest." About 15,000 Peppers worldwide perform such services as hotel check-ins, airport customer service, shopping assistance and fast-food checkout. Social robots have particular appeal for assisting the world's growing elderly population. Japan's PARO Therapeutic (治疗的) Robot, which looks like a lovely seal (海豹), is meant to stimulate and reduce stress for those with Alzheimer's disease and other patients. Mabu (Catalia Health) engages patients, particularly the elderly, reminding them to take walks and medication. Social robots are also gaining popularity with consumers as toys. Early attempts to incorporate social behavior in toys, such as Hasbro's Baby Alive and Sony's AIBO robotic dog, had limited success. But both are resurging, and the most recent version of AIBO has complicated voice and gesture recognition, can be taught tricks and develops new behaviors based on previous interactions.
Worldwide sales of consumer robots reached an estimated $5.6 billion in 2018, and the market is expected to grow to $19 billion by the end of 2025. This trend may seem surprising given that multiple well-funded consumer robot companies, such as Jibo and Anki, have failed. But a wave of robots is lining up to take the place of defunct robots, including BUDDY (Blue Frog Robotics), a big-eyed mobile device that plays games in addition to acting as a personal assistant and providing home automation and security.
