12th Apr 2013 : 76 You all look alike to me!
You all look alike to me!
April 12th, 2013

You all look alike to me!

Ahh, poor robot can’t tell the difference between us humans!

Actually what the Talented-One has done here is allude to a much more practical scientific problem that robot AI researchers have to face. That of Object Persistence or Object Permanence: to put it simply, how can you be sure that an object in one frame is the same as in the one before?

Sounds like a simple problem, right? But in actual fact it is fiendishly difficult in the real world.  You might start by making assumptions based on colour and shape and other features, building up a database of object you know.  But what if it looks different from face-on and from the side? What if the light is different (colours?) What if they have grown up!

Actually robotics AI researchers either cheat (use a blue ball and red square ONLY) or increasingly use machine learning.  Take a look at research from iCub where they use developmental learning to “teach” a robot like a child which of its toys it is looking at.

On a more prosaic note, I have to note that my wife’s bum looks quite tasty ;)

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