Abstract
We evaluate the humanlike-ness of humanoid robots using electroencephalography (EEG). As the activity of the human mirror-neuron system (MNS) is believed to reflect the humanlike-ness of observed agents, we compare the MNS activity of 17 participants while observing certain actions performed by a human, an extremely humanlike android, and a machine-like humanoid. We find the MNS to be significantly activated only when the participants observe actions performed by the human. Despite the participants’ rating of the android appearance as more humanlike than that of the robot, the MNS activity corresponding to each of the three agents does not differ. These findings suggest that appearance does not crucially affect MNS activity, and that factors such as motion should be targeted for improving the humanlike-ness of humanoid robots.
This chapter is a modified version of a previously published paper [1], edited to be comprehensive and fit with the context of this book.
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This work was supported by KAKENHI (20220002 and 18200018).
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Matsuda, G., Hiraki, K., Ishiguro, H. (2018). Evaluation of Robot Appearance Using a Brain Science Technique. In: Ishiguro, H., Dalla Libera, F. (eds) Geminoid Studies. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-8702-8_9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-8702-8_9
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