
Hanson believes robots should be about artistic expression, a creative medium akin to sculpting or painting. But convincing people that robots should look like people instead of, well, robots, remains a challenge that robot experts call the ''uncanny valley'' theory.
The so-called “uncanny valley” theory was proposed in 1970 by robotics pioneer Masahiro Mori. It suggests that the more realistic and humanlike a robot appears, the more positively a human will react to it, but only to a certain point.
Zeno has blinking eyes that can track people and a face that captivates with a range of expressions. Unlike clearly artificial robotic toys, Hanson says he envisions Zeno as an interactive learning companion, a synthetic pal who can engage in conversation and convey human emotion through a face made of a skin-like, patented material Hanson calls frubber.
It's a representation of robotics as a character animation medium, one that is intelligent. It sees you and recognizes your face. It learns your name and can build a relationship with you.
Nevertheless, perhaps future animators will use robots like Zeno in order to create cartoons instead of making thousands of drawings !
Source: Technology Review