Leonardo (robot)

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Leonardo is a robot developed by Professor Cynthia Breazeal of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Lab in conjunction with Stan Winston Studio and DARPA. Physically it appears to be anthropomorphic, covered in synthetic fur and having a vaguely humanoid body about two and a half feet tall. The robot has a highly mobile face and arms, but cannot walk. Its purpose is to serve as a "sociable robot" capable of emotional expression, vision, and "socially guided learning." Breazeal believes that the embodiment of Leonardo makes it more capable of forming emotional attachment with humans: "Breazeal has conducted experiments demonstrating that individuals have a deeper, more intense emotional reaction to Leonardo than to a high-resolution two-dimensional animation of Leonardo on a computer screen."

[edit] External links

[1] Soskis, Benjamin. "Man and the Machines: It's time to start thinking about how we might grant legal rights to computers."
[2] Robotic Life (Leonardo home page)