The Empathy Bot is an AI assistant that is able to detect human emotions based on facial expression. It is aware of presences and invites users to interact with it. A happy face would trigger cause the robot to dance and whistle mimicking a positive feeling. However, an upset expression causes the robot to bow its head, expressing sadness.
3D modeled parts were strategically designed and printed to stabilize and fit into the construction of the robot that functions as a simple pan and tilt mechanism. The robot is programmed to surveillance its surroundings through a webcam while reading information from the user's facial expression. The information is sent to a computer via OSC communication while the different detected emotional states are trained through software. An emotional state triggers a reaction from the robot, thus resiprocating an emotion to the user.