GEMINOID

RESEARCH

Appropriate teleoperation methods

It is necessary to study the method to tele-operate an android in order to convey “presence”, which is quite different with traditional teleoperation for mobile robots and industrial robots. We will study a method to autonomously control an android by transferring  a motion of an operator measured by a motion capturing system. Also, a method to autonomously control eye-gaze and small motion will be investigated.

Natural behavior production matched with speech utterances on teleoperation

We will investigate how to produce natural behaviors during speech utterances, in order to transmit “presence” by tele-operation of an android.  Besides the information transmitted by words during speech utterances, we will study the effects on non-verbal communication, by investigating not only synchronization of speech and lip movements, but also the effects of facial expressions, head and even the whole body movements.

Understanding and transmitting Human Presence

We will investigate the effect of transmitting “Sonzai-Kan” from a remote place, such as participating to a meeting instead of the person himself. Moreover, we will investigate “what is presence” through experiments. For example, we will study whether the android can represent authority of the person himself, by comparing the person himself and the android.