This video is part of a a series of
exploratory studies on animal robot interactions in
collaboration with the ethology group of the University of
Eötvös University (Hungary). The purpose of these
experiments is to investigate, from an ethological point of view,
how much dogs see AIBO as a conspecific. The questions
adressed are: what is the influence on the dog's reactions
of movement, smell, presence or absence of eyes, sounds,
etc.
Two kinds of situations were tested. In the
first one, puppies and adult dogs interact freely with the
robot. In the second one, we organise a situation of
implicit competition in which the dog has to defend a piece
of meat against the arrival of the robot. This video is extracted from this second series of experiments.
This second video shows the behavior of the same dog with a puppy.
Related Publication
Kubinyi, E. Miklosi, A. Kaplan, F. Gacsi, M, Topal, J. andi Csanyi, V.
(2004) Social behaviour of dogs encountering AIBO, an animal-like robot
in a neutral and in a feeding situation, Behavioural Processes, Vol
65/3 pp 231-239.[pdf]
The use of animal-like autonomous robots might offer new possibilities
in the study of animal interactions, if the subject recognises it as a
social partner. In this paper we investigate whether AIBO, a dog-like
robot of the Sony Corp. can be used for this purpose. Twenty-four adult
and sixteen 4–5 months old pet dogs were tested in two situations where
subjects encountered one of four different test-partners: (1) a remote
controlled car; (2) an AIBO robot; (3) AIBO with a puppy-scented furry
cover; and (4) a 2-month-old puppy. In the neutral situation the dog
could interact freely with one of the partners for 1 min in a closed
arena in the presence of its owner. In the feeding situation the
encounters were started while the dog was eating food. Our results show
that age and context influence the social behaviour of dogs. Further,
we have found that although both age groups differentiated the living
and non-living test-partners for some extent, the furry AIBO evoked
significantly increased responses in comparison to the car. These
experiments show the first steps towards the application of robots in
behavioural studies, notwithstanding that at present AIBO’s limited
ability to move constrains its effectiveness as social partner for
dogs.
Related Press
Christine Kenneally, AIBO as a Research Tool by in Discover Magazine, vol 24 No 3 [>]
"The startled yelps captured on film at the end of one of the AIBO
experiments are those of the researchers, not the dogs. At the
beginning of this film, AIBO stands and then plods guilelessly toward a
red plate piled with meat. It is the color of the plate that attracts
the dogbot; AIBO is programmed to follow moving red objects with its
gaze and to move toward stationary red objects. But it is the food, not
the dinner service, that has drawn the Belgian shepherd already
crouching on the other side of the plate. AIBO plods, and the shepherd
growls. Any other dog would pause at this warning, but the robot just
walks ahead, and the shepherd jumps over the plate to attack. Before it
could be bitten too hard or suffer any serious damage, Kaplan and his
colleagues rushed in to pull AIBO from harm's way."
)
