Kansei robot -- Kansei, a robot face capable of 36 expressions that vary according to emotional interpretations of words it hears, is the latest achievement to emerge from a Meiji University research lab working to develop conscious and self-aware robots. When Kansei hears a word, it uses software to access a database of 500,000 keywords, create word associations and determine an emotion -- ranging from happiness to sadness, anger and fear -- which is expressed by a system of 19 actuators under its silicone skin.

"What we are trying to do here is to create a flow of consciousness in robots so that they can make the relevant facial expressions," said project leader Junichi Takeno, a professor at Meiji University. "I believe that's going to be a key to improving communication between humans and robots."

Check out the video to see how Kansei reacts to the word "president."

Link: Reuters video

[Source: Yahoo!]