It’s often been said that the eyes are the window to the soul, revealing what we think and how we feel. Now, new research reveals that your eyes may also be an indicator of your personality type, simply by the way they move.
The artificial intelligence community recognizes that androids are not going to be the omnipotent objects that replace humans as science fiction stories and urban legends would have us believe. Cognitive capabilities are innately human and too intricate to replicate in humanoid robots.
People and Social Robots
Social robots, aided by computer vision and other sensors, are designed to learn about the state of mind of their human partners and assist them—perhaps by communicating reassuring messages when their companion is nervous.
Personality Traits
Personality traits of humans have been defined by the five-factor model which has been expanded by three other models—the Dark Triad, the Reinforcement Sensitivity Model (sometimes described as the Behavioral Inhibition System(BIS)/Behavioral Approach System (BAS) model), and the HEXACO model.
Deciphering Eye Movements
Inexpensive eyeglasses, embedded with sensors, can track eye movements. The impact of external stimuli (video footage or images) is measured by spontaneous eye movements, especially eye saccades which are physiological responses that are hard to consciously manipulate.
Eye saccades that are higher than normal indicate a pronounced stimulus and are more rapid among people who are impulsive and impatient.
Brain function is affected by levels of serotonin and dopamine. Low levels of serotonin correlate with aggression, poor impulse control, and dark moods. Dopamine stimulates the prefrontal cortex for sharper cognition and the brain functions associated with motivation, emotion, and desire for rewards.
Skin conductivity increases due to external stimuli such as fear. Sweat from responses stimulated by fear moisten the skin and increases conductivity.
Emulating Human Behavior Through the Eyes
Social robots appear behaviorally realistic when they reproduce the communicative movements of the human biological eye. “Social Eye Gaze in Human-Robot Interaction: A Review” written by Henny Admoni and Brian Scassellati, at the Department of Computer Science at Yale University, concluded that cost, complexity, and fragility of the robots rise in seeking to reproduce eye movements such as saccades.
Investigations into the interaction between humans and social robots have opened a cornucopia of knowledge about not only human psychology but also robot design for collaboration. It will likely transform education, elderly care, and households.
