By Brianna Wessling, The Robotic Report | October 13, 2024
MassRobotics, a robotics innovation group, not too long ago introduced Dr. Cynthia Breazeal because the 2024 recipient of its Robotics Medal. The group mentioned Breazeal gained for her vital contributions to the sphere of robotics, notably for her work within the area of social robotics and human-robot interplay. The award is sponsored by Amazon Robotics. The award features a $50,000 prize.
With the Robotics Medal, MassRobotics seeks to not solely have a good time particular person achievements, but in addition to encourage and encourage ladies and different underrepresented teams to take part in shaping the way forward for the world by means of robotics.
Breazeal is presently a professor of media arts and sciences on the Massachusetts Institute of Know-how, the place she based and directs the Private Robots group on the Media Lab. She can be the MIT dean for digital studying, the place she leads Open Studying’s enterprise and analysis and engagement models.
A historical past with social robots
Breazeal work at MIT, nonetheless, is actually simply the tip of the iceberg in relation to her accomplishments. She is a pioneer of social robotics and human-robot interplay. Her work balances technical innovation in AI, person expertise (UX) design, and understanding the psychology of engagement to design personified AI applied sciences that promote human flourishing and private development.
In 2012, Breazeal based Jibo, a social robotics firm named after its flagship product. Jibo might see with two hi-res cameras, which allowed it to acknowledge and monitor faces, take footage, and allow video calling.
Regardless of elevating almost $72 million in enterprise capital and elevating greater than $3.5 million in a 2014 Indiegogo crowdfunding marketing campaign, the corporate shut down in 2018.
Breazeal’s newer work focuses on the thought of “residing with AI” and understanding the long-term potential for social robots to construct relationships and supply personalised assist as companions in every day life. Her analysis group actively investigates social robots utilized to training, pediatrics, well being and wellness, and getting old.
“I actually simply see myself as this yr’s consultant of all of the superb ladies. It’s a mix of their brilliance and their originality, but in addition their humanity and in so some ways their deep sense of service that they create to their work,” Breazeal instructed The Robotic Report. “I’m thrilled to be this yr’s consultant, however I actually do see myself as simply part of a world of unimaginable ladies.”
Editor’s observe: There might be a ticketed Girls in Robotics luncheon as a part of RoboBusiness 2024 this week in Santa Clara, Calif.
Breazeal sees award as a name to service
Not solely is there nonetheless a gender hole inside robotics, however Breazeal mentioned there’s additionally a visibility hole for the ladies already inside the business. There are lots of trailblazing ladies in robotics, she mentioned, however they’re typically not chosen to keynote occasions or regarded as the face of robotics.
“Once you’re a girl on this area, you need to acknowledge there are such a lot of superb ladies doing unimaginable work,” Breazeal mentioned. “And I actually do applaud this specific award, as a result of I do really feel so most of the ladies within the area, we could be very outstanding, however in a variety of methods we’re type of the best-kept secret.”
Whereas the award is an honor, Breazeal mentioned that she additionally sees it as a name to service. This implies utilizing her place to raise different ladies and different individuals from underrepresented teams within the business.
“How can I take into consideration this award when it comes to service to my neighborhood and to the world?” Breazeal requested.
She additionally famous that she wouldn’t be the place she is with out the fantastic individuals she has labored with all through her profession, together with the scholars she teaches and mentors at MIT.
“MIT is a world-class analysis college,” Breazeal mentioned. “The work that you just see is the product of good college students. You give them these alternatives to immerse themselves in these questions.”
“So, not solely are we creating these superb robotic programs, however we’re additionally serving to to foster, and nurture, unimaginable, good younger expertise who’ve come out of this program,” she mentioned.
A validating second for the social robotics area
Along with being a milestone in her profession, Breazeal mentioned she additionally sees the award as a validating second for your entire area of social robotics, which has now existed for 25 years. As a pioneer within the area, Breazeal noticed firsthand the numerous detractors when the expertise was in its early phases.
“It’s type of an atypical lens on robots,” Breazeal mentioned. “No person was actually considering deeply about what it will imply for anybody, on a regular basis individuals, to really work together with robots. I imply, in fact, we had science fiction and all these visions and so forth. However individuals weren’t actually enthusiastic about anybody past the non-expert having the ability to have worth, or the non-commercial actually having the ability to have worth from this autonomous robotic expertise.”
She acknowledged that new concepts at all times draw skepticism, and the social robots had some big-name detractors early on. Breazeal recalled her work on Kismet, which some observers have referred to as the primary social robotic, for her doctoral work on the MIT AI Lab within the late Nineties. On the time, she mentioned, there have been some individuals business who doubted the advantages of “having a robotic that might smile,” as they put it.
Kismet didn’t resemble the lovable, approachable type components which can be typically related to social robots, but it surely might enter into social-emotional interactions with a human caregiver, paying homage to parent-infant exchanges. These extra pure interactions could possibly be used to bootstrap the social-emotional-cognitive improvement of social robots, defined Breazeal.
She mentioned knew that these detractors merely didn’t perceive what she was making an attempt to do. Fortuitously, Breazeal had assist from sufficient of the neighborhood to maintain going.
“As soon as we type of received previous these first friction factors and began getting this nascent neighborhood collectively, it simply grew to become more and more apparent that, in fact, that is necessary,” Breazeal mentioned.
“It’s so extremely rewarding that somebody in social robotics obtained this honor,” she continued. “It simply made the purpose that this area of human-robot interplay, social robotics, has turn out to be such an necessary a part of the general area of robotics.”
About The Creator
Brianna Wessling
Brianna Wessling is an Affiliate Editor, Robotics, WTWH Media. She joined WTWH Media in November 2021, and is a current graduate from the College of Kansas. She could be reached at bwessling@wtwhmedia.co
