Affective Computing Combined with Android Science

Abstract

In this report a number of research projects are summarized that aimed at investigating the emotional effects of android robots. In particular, those robots are focused on that have been developed and are incessantly being improved by Hiroshi Ishiguro at both the Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International (ATR) in Kyoto and Osaka University in Osaka, Japan. Parts of the reported empirical research have been conducted by the author himself during a two-year research stay at ATR as post-doctoral fellow of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.In conclusion, Affective Computing research is taken to the next level by employing physical androids rather than purely virtual humans, and Android Science benefits from the experience of the Affective Computing community in devising means to assess and evaluate a human observer’s subjective impressions that android robots give rise to.