Minggu, 30 Januari 2011

iROBOT, its relationship with HCI

"Human computer interaction (HCI) is the study, planning and design of the interaction between people (users) and computers."(Quoted from Wikipedia)

It is about how users do and solve the problem/task and how the interactive system is made.


As the development technology and human’s amazing brain, human constantly researches to make a computer system that can help every tasks from user simply done. Nowadays, they have made many robots, start from a simple robot used for solving an instruction or constant task such as animal-like robot (ex: dog robot), home cleaning robot, etc. Indeed the characteristic of human which is never satisfied, many experts keep doing research about building a robot system as perfect as human.

i,ROBOT was a film describing the human willing which is building a human-like robot. The film was told about human lives in 2035. In the film, the robot helps human as a real human. “They” could be instructed for cleaning house, taking an item left at home, protecting even saving human from a danger. They were built for replacing servants. In the era of human-like robot development, there was a man named Del Spooner who distrusts robot. In his opinion, robot could not do a task out from the instruction given. It was true.

Human must consider that robot is an integrated machine, based on integrated computer system, which just follows the limited instruction.

A spectacular side of this film is about replacement of lung function. A robotic scientist named Alfred Lanning developed robotic arm and lung for Spooner. It’s impossible. But for his creation of robotic arm I may give high five. Lanning was died. Spooner, as a detective, investigated the death of him through a holographic projector. It is a great benefit of HCI. HCI helps detective to investigate a death although that is based on limited clues.

"Everyone else in this futuristic society believed robots to be "three laws safe". The film showed, the new of U.S. Robotics (NS-5) was three laws safe, but it was controlled from the company's supercomputer "VIKI" (Virtual Interactive Kinetic Intelligence). During Spooner’s investigation, he believed that Lanning was killed by an independent, experimental, and more human-like NS-5 unit, Sonny. If true, the robot broke the Three Laws of Robotics. So, Lawrence Robertson (CEO of USR) ordered Calvin (USR Robopsychologist) to destroy Sonny, but she did not." (Quoted from: Wikipedia)

The great development of HCI was showed once again in the ability of robot to keep secrets, in the form of dreams. Besides that, the robot emotion could be trained. In my opinion, if they are created to be like that, where is the image of human that is social being? Despite its negative point, we can also take many positive benefits from human-like robot in the future, “they” can be really helpful for human lives.

"Despite its Three Laws programming, as VIKI's artificial intelligence evolved, so too did its interpretation of the laws. VIKI decided that in order to protect humanity as a whole, "some humans must be sacrificed" and "some freedoms must be surrendered" as "you charge us with your safekeeping, yet despite our best efforts, your countries wage wars, you toxify your earth, and pursue ever more imaginative means of self-destruction"."(Quoted from: Wikipedia)

It became very dangerous because VIKI controls the NS-5s to lead a global robotic takeover. But Lanning used Sonny to defeat the computer. So, it was made different from others.

The film teaches us about rapid development of HCI, especially in robotic, that changes paradigm of computer have been developed. It will live together with us, as a human-like, help human in many tasks. In the future, we are really live with computer surrounding us, even though it is invisible.

For us, the Informatics Engineer, how far we take a part in this rapid development of HCI? It is a study of complex interaction system.