Blog 6 - Social Robotics

A social robot is defined as “an autonomous robot that interacts and communicates with humans or other autonomous physical agents by following social behaviors and rules attached to its role. Like other robots, a social robot is physically embodied.”

Social robots provide an exciting and somewhat terrifying glimpse into the future. These robots will be able to assist around the home with every day chores or help in industries such as aerospace and medicine. Social robots will be able to serve across several functions both in personal life and industry. The future of social robots is envisioned as a robots using artificial intelligence to interact with humans.

One area in which social robot research is focused on is assisting the world’s growing elderly population. For example, researchers in Japan developed PARO Therapeutic Robot, which is designed to look like a baby seal and provide stress reduction for the elderly suffering from Alzheimers. There are 78.8 million people in the baby boomer generation in the US alone. They account for 25% of the overall US population.

Social Robots are not just a thing of future, they are already here and thriving. In 2018, worldwide sales of consumer robots reached an all time high of $5.6 billion! The market for social robots world wide is expected reach $19 billion by the end of 2025. The future of social robotics is very exciting.