MIT Media Lab develops robotic back-seat driver

Update 10/30/2009, 9:34 a.m.: Video added

Researchers at the MIT Media Lab have developed a robot — the Affective Intelligent Driving Agent (AIDA) — to offer “the same kind of guidance as an informed and friendly companion.”

The system features an expressive robotic head, pictured above, that would protrude from the dashboard. Nothing creepy there. Media Lab researcher Cynthia Breazeal, Carlo Ratti, and Assaf Biderman are working with the Media Lab’s SENSEable City Lab and automaker Audi on the product.

The robot would analyze your driving patterns, your route, traffic, the weather and other information to guide you. It would also interact with you via expressions, like a smile or the Jesus-Mary-and-Joseph-we’re-going-to-die exclamation point.

Posted by Brendan Lynch

Tags: Affective Intelligent Driving Agent, AIDA, Assaf Biderman, Audi, Carlo Ratti, Cynthia Breazeal, MIT, MIT Media Lab, Senseable City

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 29th, 2009 at 4:01 pm and is filed under Education & Training, Massachusetts, robotics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.