A biomimetic vocalisation system for MiRo

There is increasing interest in the use of animal-like robots in applications such as companionship and pet therapy. However, in the majority of cases it is only the robot's physical appearance that mimics a given animal. In contrast, MiRo is the first commercial biomimetic robot to be based on...

Ausführliche Beschreibung

Gespeichert in:
Bibliographische Detailangaben
Hauptverfasser: Moore, R.K, Mitchinson, B
Format: Tagungsbericht
Sprache:eng
Online-Zugang:Volltext bestellen
Tags: Tag hinzufügen
Keine Tags, Fügen Sie den ersten Tag hinzu!
Beschreibung
Zusammenfassung:There is increasing interest in the use of animal-like robots in applications such as companionship and pet therapy. However, in the majority of cases it is only the robot's physical appearance that mimics a given animal. In contrast, MiRo is the first commercial biomimetic robot to be based on a hardware and software architecture that is modelled on the biological brain. This paper describes how MiRo's vocalisation system was designed, not using pre-recorded animal sounds, but based on the implementation of a real-time parametric general-purpose mammalian vocal synthesiser tailored to the specific physical characteristics of the robot. The novel outcome has been the creation of an 'appropriate' voice for MiRo that is perfectly aligned to the physical and behavioural affordances of the robot, thereby avoiding the 'uncanny valley' effect and contributing strongly to the effectiveness of MiRo as an interactive device.
DOI:10.1007/978-3-319-63537-8_30