Fudan University in Shanghai has unveiled an emotional humanoid robot. The researchers created it to provide elderly care and healthcare services.

The robot was unveiled at the 2024 World Artificial Intelligence Conference on Thursday. Called Guanghua No 1, it’s one of its kind and displays facial expressions. 

A revolutionary emotional humanoid robot for elderly care

Guanghua No 1 is around 165 cm tall and weighs about 62 kg. It is the only humanoid robot developed by the university, among the 18 humanoid robots which were showcased at WAIC this year. 

This humanoid robot is emotionally responsive, flexible, and sophisticated. It comes with 45 intelligent joints that have a hierarchical generative embodied brain model. This allows the robot to move its hands properly and walk with an upright posture. 

It’s also equipped to handle four emotions happiness, anger, sadness, and joy on its facial screen. The makers of the robot shared they developed it to meet the growing demands of China’s ageing population. 

Gan Zhongxue, deputy dean of the Academy for Engineering & Technology of Fudan University said, “Our market research indicated that elderly care and health services are the most pressing areas for humanoid robot application.” He noted that their vision is to create a “health companion” capable of providing personalized and empathetic care for the elderly.

The primary cause of developing this robot was to address the emotional needs of the elderly. “Providing care with an emotionless, mechanical entity would fail to offer the warmth akin to that of a family member. Genuine care necessitates emotional intelligence” Gan added. 

Advanced algorithms and sensors drive the development of emotionally intelligent robots

Most institutions have been researching now to understand the emotional needs of humans, especially the elderly, and cater to them. In order to achieve this, they must design robots which must be equipped with sophisticated algorithms and sensors. These would help the robots perceive and interpret human emotions with a greater accuracy. 

In the case of Guanghua No 1, its emotional intelligence has been inspired by a brain-inspired motivation and dopamine reward mechanism. It also utilizes multilevel coordinated incentive algorithms that generate humanlike perceptions and behaviors. 

However, sometimes the challenge lies in predicting the complexity and nuance of human emotions. Emotions can get really subjective and vary in most of the cases. This has led many institutions and scientists to train robots on diverse datasets and adapt new inputs continuously. 

There have been immense practical implications for emotionally intelligent robots as of now. It has been mostly leveraged by the healthcare industry. Several hospitals are already in talks to deploy humanoid robotic services that can provide companionship and support to patients. 

The Guanghua No 1 robot has been in the development phase for the last two years and has been developed by experts from mechanics, biology, engineering, computer science, and big data. 

They are already planning to release a trial version by this year’s end, and are now conducting extensive tests in provinces like Jiangsu and Zhejiang. They are also testing the robots for improved accuracy, safety, and tasks like assisting the elderly out of bed or taking them to the restroom. 

Finally, robots may not ultimately replicate human emotional depth, but they can significantly come to their aid, especially the elderly.