Scrabble-playing robot aimed at refining human interaction

Developed under the direction of Reid Simmons, research professor in CMU’s Robotics Institute, Victor the Gamebot is the latest in a series of so-called social robots that anticipate a time when people and robots will interact routinely.

Simmons and fellow researchers are using Victor to better understand the variables required for people to engage with a robot and enjoy the process too.

‘We believe that for autonomous robots to be accepted, they will have to conform to the social conventions of people, rather than the other way around,’ Simmons said in a statement.

The researchers are investigating whether changes in mood or emotions affect the desire to interact with robots and how personalisation, such as the robot remembering a person’s play from previous games, might affect the willingness to interact over time.

Victor’s torso is topped with a mobile head on which a video screen displays its animated face, designed by Anne Mundell, associate professor of scene design.