4. Application areas

In addition to research purposes, social robots find applications in a variety of problem areas including education, health care and entertainment.

imitate infant sounds. While such animated toy robots require their human masters to look after them, pet or companion robots are more autonomous. Mobility is one of the prime concerns in such companion (quadruped and wheeled) robots. Among these, AIBO [45] by Sony is one of the most advanced pet robots in the market that imitates the relationship between man and a pet dog. First introduced in 1999 in the market, different models were produced till 2005. One of the most sophisticated consumer robots, AIBO could respond to over 100 voice commands, learn to walk and play with a ball. Other similar pet robots include Poo-Chi, Pleo, iDog, Genibo and FIDO. In addition to entertainment, companion robots have also been designed for military and research purposes. Examples include Rhex, Canid, Chee-

Socially Believable Robots

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http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.71375

Figure 4. Zoomorphic robots: (a) AIBO, (b) iDog, (c) Cheetah.

Figure 5. Social robots in: (a) health care, (b) service, (c) education.

tah, SCARAB, Rise and Titan. Figure 4 shows some of the popular zoomorphic robots.

While surgical robots have been serving the medical sector for a long time, the relatively recent idea of employing social robots in the health sector has also been widely employed [46] for application like rehabilitation, elderly assistance and therapy etc. (Figure 5a). Researchers have investigated the possibilities of employing robots to educate and enhance the communication

4.3. Healthcare
