Machine learning advances human-computer interaction : NewsCenter

A natural language model developed in the Robotics and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory allows a user to speak a simple command, which the robot can translate into an action. If the robot is given a command to pick up a particular object, it can differentiate between other objects nearby, even if they are identical in appearance. Inside the University of Rochester's Robotics and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, a robotic torso looms over a row of plastic gears and blocks, awaiting instructions. Next to him, Jacob Arkin '13, a doctoral candidate in electrical and computer engineering, gives the robot a command: "Pick up the middle gear in the row of five gears on the right," he says to the Baxter Research Robot. The robot, sporting a University of Rochester winter cap, pauses before turning, extending its right limb in the direction of the object.