Could teaching kids how robots are used in the real world create a new generation of designers to build revolutionary machines? That鈥檚 the idea behind a new study of children鈥檚 perceptions of robots.
In a study echoing the 1983 test 鈥� in which researcher , now of the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico, used drawings to highlight the differences between children鈥檚 view of scientists and the reality 鈥� psychologist and engineer of Illinois State University in Normal asked 143 schoolchildren aged between 6 and 10 to 鈥渄raw a picture of a robot doing something robots often do鈥�.
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The results showed a clear stereotype of robots, says Zimmerman, who presented the study at the in Berkeley, California, earlier this month. The children saw them as boxy humanoids with legs and a square head, typically operating free of direct human control to engage in human-like work and play, from washing dishes and doing kids鈥� homework to golfing, skipping and dancing 鈥� About 30 per cent of the children drew them boogieing.
No more dancing
A group of 29 children who had previously submitted robot drawings were then given lessons about what robots currently do in the real world, including a field trip to see an industrial robot. They were then asked to redraw a robot.
Subsequently, only one child drew a humanoid robot 鈥� most instead drew industrial robots doing things like food processing or building cars. 鈥淭he drawings were just as creative and complex, but they lacked the fictional elements of robots,鈥� says Zimmerman.
What鈥檚 more, the change in perceptions stuck. After a three-month gap, repeat robot drawings were much the same. Zimmerman believes this demonstrates the teaching 鈥渘arrowed the gap鈥� between science fiction and reality. It is more realistic to conceive of an automaton under human control than a robot with free will, she says, adding that a better grasp of real robots may help students move into related careers.
But , a robotics researcher at the University of Sheffield, UK, doubts that 鈥渄amping the children鈥檚 ideas鈥� will breed a new generation of robot designers. Existing humanoid robots can perform many tasks, from caring for the elderly to folding towels, he adds.
Sharkey isn鈥檛 surprised that the children鈥檚 robots danced: a search on YouTube will show many real dancing humanoid robots have been built over the past 10 years, he says. 鈥淲e should encourage a realistic view of robots among children, but we should not limit this so as to stifle their creativity.鈥�
