A group of French scientists have trained robots to sense emotion through touch.
ROBOTS are learning how to detect your personality and even your gender with just a handshake.
Just like Baymax in the Disney blockbuster Big Hero 6, scientists are already teaching robots to gather emotional information about us through touch.
The group of researchers from Université Paris-Saclay are developing a humanoid robot that is sensitive to stimulation.
The aptly named Heroes Project, run by Professor Adriana Tapus, is responsible for building a robot capable of guessing someone’s gender and “personality” in 75 per cent of cases simply by shaking hands.
“Giving robots a personality is the only way our relationship with artificial intelligence will survive.
“If we can simulate a human-like emotional response from a robot we can ensure a two-way relationship, benefit the most vulnerable and isolated members of our society.
“Our research will help the next generation of social robots to be polite, empathetic, and maybe have their own sense of humour”, said Professor Tapus.
Hiro Hamada, voiced by Ryan Potter, right, and Baymax, voiced by Scott Adsit, in a scene from Big Hero 6.
For society to accept robots, a lot of work must go into creating appearances that are similar to us, but not too close to home that we find it creepy.
The French researchers have created robots that can detect different emotions and dominance depending on a situation.
They can judge a person by their handshake and adapt to a stiffer or more powerful clamp.
The researchers - perhaps wisely - said they were able to detect gender, but did not reveal exactly what kind of handshake gave the game away.
The emotional bots could be an important breakthrough for those living with Autism Syndrome Disorder, Prof. Tapus’ research group at ENSTA said.
It is widely reported that those with the disorder struggle to recognise and understand social cues like facial expressions.
They are putting the robots in front of children and teens to see whether they could help them become more social.
In the future, they hope the touchy-feely bots will become just like Baymax, and take jobs as carers for our ageing population.
But despite their cuddly exterior, these bots will pack a punch.
Androids that "make the Terminator look puny" are on the way after the development of artificial muscle that can lift 1,000 times its own weight.
The material could make robots 15 times as strong as humans.
