Phobot

Phobot is a robot that exhibits behaviour that mimics fear and overcoming it by graded exposure. The robot was voted the public's favourite at a conference on human–robot interaction in Amsterdam. It was designed by a team of students at the University of Amsterdam, and constructed from Lego.[1] It was designed to help children deal with phobias and anxieties.

## Contents

* 1 Behaviour
* 2 Design
* 3 References
* 4 External links

## Behaviour

When Phobot sees a larger robot, it retreats, and spins around, making high pitched noises, seemingly in panic.[1] When it is gradually exposed to smaller robots, and is coached by holding its hands and talking to it in a soothing manner, it learns to overcome its fear.[2] This approach mimics the process of systematic desensitization, or graded exposure treatment, common in the treatment of phobias.

## Design

Phobot was built for a competition at the international conference on human-robot interaction 2008 from a Lego Mindstorms robot kit, and its behaviour implemented in the Mindstorms software.[1] It uses RFID, sound and touch sensors to interact with humans.[3] It was designed as a low cost proof of concept for an affective robot, coaching children to deal with phobias and anxieties.[2]

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Associated Press (17 March 2008). "Cowardly 'Phobot' Steals Show at Amsterdam Robot Conference". Fox News. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,338172,00.html.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 gaan robots mensen vervangen. Volkskrant. March 2008. in Dutch
3. ↑ "Meet Phobot!". University of Amsterdam. http://staff.science.uva.nl/~hcramer/phobot/.

## External links

* Phobot homepage
* Human-robot interaction conference 2008