About This Video

A simple gesture, such as pointing, is filled to the brim with social cues, feedback, and expectations—many of which are subconscious. Roboticists like Rodney Brooks know that by programming robots to react to these social cues, they can create a smoother user/machine interface. Brooks shows us how two robots, Domo and Kismet, not only follow their operator’s cues, but have the operator following back without realizing it.

Recorded June 2011; Posted August 2011