<
https://arstechnica.com/science/2024/05/cats-playing-with-robots-proves-a-winning-combo-in-novel-art-installation/>
'Cats and robots are a winning combination, as evidenced by all those videos of
kitties riding on Roombas. And now we have Cat Royale, a "multispecies" live
installation in which three cats regularly "played" with a robot over 12 days,
carefully monitored by human operators. Created by computer scientists from the
University of Nottingham in collaboration with artists from a group called
Blast Theory, the installation debuted at the World Science Festival in
Brisbane, Australia, last year and is now a touring exhibit. The accompanying
YouTube video series recently won a Webby Award, and a paper outlining the
insights gleaned from the experience was similarly voted best paper at the
recent Computer-Human Conference (CHI’24).
"At first glance, the project is about designing a robot to enrich the lives of
a family of cats by playing with them," said co-author Steve Benford of the
University of Nottingham, who led the research. "Under the surface, however, it
explores the question of what it takes to trust a robot to look after our loved
ones and potentially ourselves." While cats might love Roombas, not all animal
encounters with robots are positive: Guide dogs for the visually impaired can
get confused by delivery robots, for example, while the rise of lawn mowing
robots can have a negative impact on hedgehogs, per Benford et al.
Blast Theory and the scientists first held a series of exploratory workshops to
ensure the installation and robotic design would take into account the welfare
of the cats. "Creating a multispecies system—where cats, robots, and humans are
all accounted for—takes more than just designing the robot," said co-author
Eike Schneiders of Nottingham's Mixed Reality Lab about the primary takeaway
from the project. "We had to ensure animal well-being at all times, while
simultaneously ensuring that the interactive installation engaged the (human)
audiences around the world. This involved consideration of many elements,
including the design of the enclosure, the robot, and its underlying systems,
the various roles of the humans-in-the-loop, and, of course, the selection of
the cats.”
Based on those discussions, the team set about building the installation: a
bespoke enclosure that would be inhabited by three cats for six hours a day
over 12 days. The lucky cats were named Ghostbuster, Clover, and Pumpkin—a
parent and two offspring to ensure the cats were familiar with each other and
comfortable sharing the enclosure. The enclosure was tricked out to essentially
be a "utopia for cats," per the authors, with perches, walkways, dens, a
scratching post, a water fountain, several feeding stations, a ball run, and
litter boxes tucked away in secluded corners.
As for the robot, the team chose the Kino Gen3 lite robot arm, and the
associated software was trained on over 7,000 videos of cats. A decision engine
gave the robot autonomy and proposed activities for specific cats. Then a human
operator used an interface control system to instruct the robot to execute the
movements. The robotic arm's two-finger gripper was augmented with custom
3D-printed attachments so that the robot could manipulate various cat toys and
accessories.
Each cat/robot interaction was evaluated for a "happiness score" based on the
cat's level of engagement, body language, and so forth. Eight cameras monitored
the cat and robot activities, and that footage was subsequently remixed and
edited into daily YouTube highlight videos and, eventually, an eight-hour
film.'
Via Christoph S.
Share and enjoy,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
