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PLAN 71: ARTICLE
INTRODUCING NEXI, INTERNET CELEBRITY


PUBLICATION

PLAN


ISSUE

71


PUBLISHED

Aug, 2008


DIVISION

Media Lab



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THE MEDIA LAB'S LATEST ROBOT MAKES A SPLASHY DEBUT

After a video demonstration of a new experimental robot from the Media Lab was
posted on YouTube in April, the robot became something of an Internet celebrity.
At this writing, the spot has been accessed more than 100,000 times and viewers
have reacted with comments ranging from awe and bemusement ('This robot seems
more humane then most humans') to shock and alarm ('Creepy. Very creepy.').

Created by the Personal Robots Group at the Media Lab – headed by Cynthia
Breazeal, who is widely known for her robot Kismet – the new robot can slant its
eyebrows in anger, raise them in surprise, hood its eyes in boredom and show a
wide assortment of other facial expressions to communicate with people in
human-centric terms.

Named Nexi, the new product is known as an MDS (mobile, dextrous, social) robot.
Unlike Kismet, which consisted only of a robotic head, Nexi is a complete mobile
manipulator robot with video cameras for eyes, an array of microphones for ears,
hands to manipulate objects and a 3-D infrared camera and laser rangefinder to
support real-time tracking of objects, people and voices, as well as indoor
navigation. It is aimed at a range of applications for personal robots and
human-robot teamwork.

Nexi was developed in collaboration with Professor Rod Grupen at the University
of Massachusetts-Amherst and two MIT robotic spin-off companies. The project was
originally funded – by an award from the Office of Naval Research Defense
University Research Instrumentation Program (DURIP) – to develop a class of
robots that can engage in sophisticated forms of peer-to-peer teamwork with
humans in uncertain environments.

Another more recent award from the Office of Naval Research, for which Breazeal
is principle investigator, aims at developing technologies for teams comprised
of humans and autonomous aerial robots, in addition to MDS robots. Several MIT
faculty are part of that effort, including Deb Roy at the Media Lab, in addition
to other collaborators at Stanford, Vanderbilt, UMass-Amherst and the University
of Washington.

For more information, visit robotic.media.mit.edu.

This story appeared in slightly different form on the website of the MIT News
Office, written by David Chandler.

MIT
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