Remember how
Sony sent
one of their QRIO humanoid robots on a
publicity stunt goodwill mission to a US preschool last
year? Well it seems that their intentions were less than completely altruistic, because while the children -- ages
two-and-under -- joyfully danced and played with the
now-deceased bot, researchers from Sony and
the University of California at San Diego's Machine Perception Laboratory were secretly videotaping and analyzing their
every interaction. According to the study's recently-released results,
QRIO's spy work revealed that, unsurprisingly, the toddlers developed an
attachment to their artificial playmate, preferring to dance with the bot rather than alone, and eventually helping it
up if it happened to topple over. Unfortunately this story is not all smiles and sunshine, however, as word of QRIO's
double-life got back to the preschoolers, who reportedly overpowered their other robot companion,
RUBI, and interrogated the hell
out of it using a car battery and welding torch.
[Via
Robot Gossip]
