The present teaching relates to method, system, medium, and implementation for activating an animatronic device. Information about a user is obtained for whom an animatronic device is to be configured to carry out a dialogue with the user. The animatronic device includes a head portion and a body portion and the head portion is configured based on one of a plurality of selectable head portions. One or more preferences of the user are identified from the obtained information and used to select, from the plurality of selectable head portions, a first selected head portion. A configuration of the head portion of the animatronic device is then configured based on the first selected head portion for carrying out the dialogue.

Method, systems, and algorithms are provided to generate and deliver interactive jokes, comedy monologues, comedy dialogues and comedy routines i) to a user/group in-person, via an interactive comedic robot or ii) to the user/group remotely, via an animated robot, chat-bot, or chatter-bot on internet connected television-, or web-, or mobile-, or projector-interface. Methods include creating a database of topics, set-up comments, punch lines and audio- and video-recordings of canned laughter and emotions. Algorithms include the selection and delivery of the topics, the set-up comments, and the punch lines packaged with the canned laughter and emotions. The jokes/comedy are delivered in a synthesized/recorded robotic or human voice representing one or more than one personality of the robot. The disclosed robots are usable for interactive entertainment, companionship, education, training, greeting, guiding and customer service applications as well as for user feed-back, customization, and crowdsourcing.

A multi-modal display device is presented. The display device has a shell having an internal projection screen and an opening, a projector emitting a projection beam from inside the shell. There is an optical guide adjusting a position of the projector to aim the projection beam at either the internal projection screen or the opening. A processor coupled to the optical guide may select a display position, wherein different display positions are associated with different display area sizes. The method includes determining a distance between a projector and a user, and automatically selecting a display mode based on the distance.

A method of performing dialogue between a humanoid robot and user comprises: i) acquiring input signals from respective sensors, at least one being a sound sensor and another being a motion or image sensor; ii) interpreting the signals to recognize events generated by the user, including: the utterance of a word or sentence, an intonation of voice, a gesture, a body posture, a facial expression; iii) determining a response of the humanoid robot, comprising an event such as: the utterance of a word or sentence, an intonation of voice, a gesture, a body posture, a facial expression; iv) generating, an event by the humanoid robot; wherein step iii) comprises determining the response from events jointly generated by the user and recognized at step ii), of which at least one is not words uttered by the user. A computer program product and humanoid robot for carrying out the method is provided.

A communication apparatus that can improve communication quality is provided. A communication apparatus including a face unit for achieving a configuration simulating right and left eyes by a mechanical movement or a display. The communication apparatus includes a detection unit configured to detect a distance to and a direction of a communication partner, and a control unit configured to control the mechanical movement or the display of the configurations in such a way that viewpoints of the right and left eyes are directed to the distance and the direction detected by the detection unit.

An intelligent robot according to an embodiment is disclosed. The intelligent robot according to an embodiment includes at least one processor and a memory configured to store instructions for executing the at least one processor, wherein the intelligent robot includes a plurality of members stacked with gaps to form a shape of a face, and at least one flexible structure disposed in at least one of the gaps, and wherein when the instructions are executed by the at least one processor, the instructions cause the at least one processor to control a motion of the face by applying a force to a power transmission element connected to at least one of the plurality of members based on an audio input.

A robot for outputting various reactions according to user behaviors is disclosed. A control method for a robot using an artificial intelligence model, according to the present disclosure, comprises the steps of: acquiring data related to at least one user; inputting the data related to the at least one user into the artificial intelligence model as learning data so as to learn a user state for each user of which there is at least one; determining representative reactions corresponding to the user states learned on the basis of the data related to the at least one user; and inputting the input data into the artificial intelligence model so as to determine a user state of a first user and controlling the robot on the basis of a representative reaction corresponding to the determined user state, when input data related to the first user among the users, of which there is a least one, is acquired.

A planar touch sensor (an electrostatic capacitance sensor) for detecting a contact by a user on a body surface is installed on a robot. Pleasantness and unpleasantness are determined in accordance with a place of contact and a strength of contact on the touch sensor. Behavioral characteristics of the robot change in accordance with a determination result. Familiarity with respect to the user who touches changes in accordance with the pleasantness or unpleasantness. The robot has a curved form and has a soft body.

Methods and systems are provided to generate and exhibit multiple interactive personalities (MIP) in a robot capable of switching back and forth between the MIP (e.g., synthesized digital voice representing a robot personality, digitally recorded human voice representing a human personality) during a continuing interaction with a user, a group of users, or other robots depending upon the situation. The MIP of the robot are exhibited by the robot speaking in more than one voice type, accent, and emotion accompanied with a suitable facial expression. Corresponding animated multiple interactive personality (AMIP) chat-bot and chatter-bot software is also provided which uses a web/mobile interface to train the MIP using crowd-sourcing methods for a group of users and customization for an individual user. Trained MIPs are downloadable into the MIP robot, AMIP chat-bot and/or AMIP chatter-bot for uses including entertainment, social companionship, education and training, and customer service applications.

A robot includes an operation control unit that selects a motion of the robot, a drive mechanism that executes a motion selected by the operation control unit, and a remaining battery charge monitoring unit that monitors a remaining charge of a rechargeable battery. Behavioral characteristics of the robot change in accordance with the remaining battery charge. For example, a motion with a small processing load is selected at a probability that is higher the smaller the remaining battery charge. Referring to consumption plan data that define a power consumption pace of the rechargeable battery, the behavioral characteristics of the robot may be caused to change in accordance with a difference between the remaining battery charge scheduled in the consumption plan data and the actual remaining battery charge.