It has been awhile since we first learned of Myon, a cyclopsian humanoid built for Humboldt University, Germany in 2010. It is the main robot being used in the multinational ALEAR project (Artificial Language Evolution on Autonomous Robots), which explores how “complex grammatical systems and behaviors can emerge in populations of robotic agents.” The project was recently featured in a BBC Horizon special called The Hunt for AI.

How language emerges and evolves is a fascinating subject, made all the more interesting by experiments where robots build a shared vocabulary from the ground up. They do it in much the same way our ancient ancestors must have, by naming the actions they perform as well as the things around them. Experiments play out like a game where a teacher and observer interact.

The upcoming DARPA Robotics Challenge isn’t just starring Boston Dynamics’ PETMAN robot. A small selection of teams from around the world will be funded to the tune of $2M USD over several years to build their own custom platforms for the challenge. The deadline for proposals was in late May, and the teams are now learning whether or not they made the cut.

Unfortunately the European team led by Icarus Technology‘s Davide Faconti wasn’t selected.  Having already completed two impressive full-sized humanoid robots called REEM-A and REEM-B, Davide was in a much better position than many teams from the United States to build a working robot for the challenge. I had full confidence in him and wanted to lend a hand if I could.  With his permission, I am now able to share the conceptual work I did for his team’s proposal.

This past weekend I watched Eva, a Spanish film that features an interesting depiction of robots in daily life.  It stars Daniel Bruhl (probably best known as the lovestruck German sniper in Taratino’s Inglorious Basterds) as Alex, a roboticist who returns to his hometown after a ten year absence to finish work on an android project.

This film is beautifully acted by Bruhl and the entire cast and has good (if not great) special effects for the robots.  In particular, Alex is provided a live-in android named Max (wonderfully played by Lluis Homar)and a nifty robot cat that follows him around.  Others that seem to be based on BigDog and droid-like service robots roam the background while cars zip around with an electrical hum.  Programming genuine people personalities seems a breeze thanks to an ornamental holographic display controlled with an unseen motion-capture device.

Ok, so things are about to get a bit spoilery so be forewarned.  The technology that is presented feels quite plausible with one exception; I doubt that we will have androids that can so easily pass for humans as Max in the next thirty years.  That said, the way the script inserts some of its sci-fi elements is half the fun.  Max’s emotional intelligence level can be changed depending on the mood of his master, since he is not a “free” robot (which is illegal in this world).  Early in, the film sets up an Asimov-like protocol for when A.I.s need to be shut down for good, which involves a simple spoken command.