Sony at Milan Design Week 2019 is exhibiting an interactive installation called Affinity in Autonomy where visitors can experience “the future of robotics evolving with emotion and a feeling of vitality”.
“In a rapidly transforming technological landscape, we are developing a vision for robotics that will enrich people’s lives and society,” said Sony. “When robots have evolved so far that we feel like they’re alive, then humans will begin to feel an affinity toward them.”
Said to exemplify Sony’s doctrine of “do what has never been done before” and “always stay one step ahead”, there are five variations of artificial intelligence that visitors can interact with.
The first installation is titled Awakening. Stating how heightened awareness of senses can awaken a new type of intelligence, the AI is embodied as light and sound that can sense and lead humans to “a future where we interact with robots in unexpected and unimaginable ways”.
Following is an installation titled Autonomous. Portraying the free-will and independence of AI as random movements of a pendulum, the AI is able to detect and directly cast a light towards a human presence. By doing so, Sony states that “we may question our natural feelings and response”.
The third installation is titled Accordance. Similarly to humans, the spheres are of various sizes with its own distinct personality. Able to interlink and cooperate, the spheres act in accordance with humans and move alongside.
Titled Affiliation, the fourth installation features Sony’s robot dog called Aibo.
“Through continual interaction with humans, robots will evolve both intellectually and emotionally,” stated Sony. “By understanding this symbiotic relationship, we can imagine a future where robotics will have the appearance of being more alive.”
Lastly, the final installation titled Association allows visitors to share their thoughts on the future of affinity in autonomy when prompted.
