EVA Robot Has Soft and Expressive Face

Posted on May 29, 2021

EVA blue faced expressive robot

EVA is a robot with a blue face that is soft and expressive. EVA can match the expressions of nearby humans. Researchers in the Creative Machines Lab at Columbia Engineering have spent the past five years developing EVA.

Hod Lipson, James and Sally Scapa Professor of Innovation (Mechanical Engineering) and director of the Creative Machines Lab, says in a statement, ""The idea for EVA took shape a few years ago, when my students and I began to notice that the robots in our lab were staring back at us through plastic, googly eyes."

EVA can express the six basic emotions of anger, disgust, fear, joy, sadness, and surprise, as well as more nuanced emotions. EVA uses artificial "muscles" (i.e. cables and motors) that pull on specific points on EVA's face. The robot's artificial muscles were designed to mimic the tiny muscles that attack to the skin and bones of human faces.

This video from the Creative Machines Lab shows how EVA can match the expressions of humans. You can find out more about the project at columbia.edu.



Image: Creative Machines Lab/Columbia Engineering



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