Since in 1986 he jumped to fame, with a short film of an unknown company, almost 40 years have passed, but Luxo Jr. is now one of the emblems of the world -famous Pixar. And, how could it be otherwise, Apple has decided making Luxor Jr. become a real object. And animated.
The details are part of a study by Apple experts, published in Arxiv and robots focused. In the article the authors argue that traits such as expressive movements are key to optimizing the interaction between humans and robots. “Like most animals – the report begins – humans are very sensitive to movement and subtle changes in movement. For robots to interact more naturally with humans, the robot movement design must also integrate expressive qualitiessuch as intention, attention and emotions, together with traditional functional considerations such as fulfilling tasks and time efficiency. ”
A video published together with the article shows some of these movements. As expected, most of them echoes those of the creation of Pixar. This includes the same similar parts, with the screen of the lamp that serves as a head, while the arm acts as a neck.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijttfij1dd8
The most intriguing part of the video, in regards to the use of the robot, occurs when a user makes a query. In its simplest form, the robot-lampara (without name yet) It works as a more kinetic version of a Homepod, a Amazon Echo or other smart speaker. In this case, who is in front of the lamp asks a question and the robot answers with Siri’s voice.
For example, when we ask him about time, instead of simply giving an answer, Luxo Jr.’s robotic version does not give a direct answer. Instead, Look towards the window, as if I could see if it is cloudy or if it rains, and gives us the answer. It is a simple example, but that shows how even small movements take advantage of a kind of empathy towards objects that seem animated.
Apple’s research comes at a time when the company is intensifying its efforts in consumption robotics before the planned launch of a more advanced smart home system. It is clear how these learning could be applied to make a robotic center for the home more expressive. It is similar to the approach that Amazon has adopted with its Astro robot. However, the inclusion of a non -anthropomorphic factor in the investigation implies that the robot can even be less humanoid than that of Amazon.
Rumors around the next launch have described the center as “a robotic arm with a connected iPad.” It is easy to see how the lamp form factor could be applied there. Of course, Apple’s consumption robotics division seems to be still in the research phase. Many things can happen to then, from an important change in the form factor to a decision to cancel the project before launch.
That said, the reality is that it is of the most interesting voice assistant. Or the robot with which we could have the most empathy. To date.