Meet my new friend, the robot |Maxime VALLET | TEDxClermont

This talk was given at a local TEDx event, produced independently of the TED Conferences.

Companion robots are entering our lives. They add a social layer to the technologies available today. As soon as these robots adopt human body language, they trigger social reflexes to create interactions.

Maxime Vallet is the founder and CEO of Evotion, a start-up specializing in robot rentals for corporate events. The question he poses to all of us, corporate professionals or not, is: Why don't you adopt a companion robot? And after watching his talk, you just might.

Filmed at TEDxClermont, Clermont-Ferrand, Auvergne, France, 17/10/2015.

You can hardly imagine the impact

that robots will have
on your lives in the future.

We've been promised humanoids,
we've been promised flying cars,

but today, the reality of robotics
is pancake-shaped vacuum cleaners;

the reality of robotics is this:

(Music)

Stop it! Enough!

I'm not going to discredit my subject
before talking to you about it.

As you can see, even R2-D2
moves around better than those robots.

There's a marketing concept that says

people don't really know
what they want until they get it.

It is event truer
when talking about robots.

It's a new technology.

Today, we're in the dark,

waiting to see how these little robots
are going to enter our homes.

Yes, indeed, they are going
to enter your homes.

For example, the development program
of Pepper, that robot there:

4,000 people have one,
and it's currently in development.

Jibo, an American robot -

7,500 Jibo units were sold
by crowdfunding over the internet.

And then, 1,000 Buddy robots -
which you see here - 1,000 Buddy robots.

Here, too, it's the result
of successful crowdfunding,

and they will soon be ready
to be cuddled at your home,

just like little Pleo,
this fascinating little robot.

What's fascinating about these robots

is that you can build
a relationship with them,

even though they are made of metal,
plastic, and electronics,

and not of flesh and blood.

This little dinosaur reacts
to everything I do.

When I pet him, he grunts, he's happy.

You like that, don't you?

I've been working in robotics
for six years now.

I chose to work with a company
called Aldebaran,

which was the first company
to design humanoid robots.

Why? Because they created a robot
called Nao. You can see it there.

They put kindness and benevolence
at the heart of this robot.

Nao exists to make people's lives better,

to enrich them, and to make them happier.

They exist to accompany you,
to help you out, but not to replace you.

Each developer who is involved
in creating software for this robot

commits to bringing kindness
into the application -

not conquering the world, for instance.

And Nao is 23 inches high,
so that would be complicated.

(Laughter)

Nao is a robot who is curious
and a bit teasing, but never patronizing.

He is specially oriented
to interact with humans.

If you go back in the history
of the companion robot,

AIBO is the first one.

AIBO is a little dog, an animal,
created by Sony in 1999.

It was a great commercial success
right from the start -

5,000 units were sold in 20 minutes.

But it was also very expensive,
so it barely found its way into our homes,

and remained in the realm
of laboratories and universities.

It never really reached us.

Today, two factors
are improving the situation

and making sure that very soon,
you will have companion robots.

First, you have technological evolution:

it's getting better and better,
batteries are lasting longer...

Then, you have the cost of parts.

Parts get cheaper and cheaper,
so robots are costing less and less.

The good news is that France
is in pole position; we create robots.

I told you about Aldebaran
and its two robots.

There's also Buddy,
that I introduced to you.

Buddy will be here next year,

and you'll be able to buy him
for between 550 and 1,100 dollars.

That's the price of a computer.

It's really affordable.

Now comes my question: Why wouldn't you?

Why wouldn't you adopt a companion robot?

It's a social technology.

I'm going to tell you a story
to illustrate my point.

We've designed a robot called Sheldon,

the big large white body here.

It's a greeter robot.

Its job is to engage with you,
discuss with you and guide you.

During an event at a commercial center,

Sheldon met up with Baptiste,
the little boy in the photo.

They had a great time together.

We gave little hearts to the children,
to represent the hearts of robots,

to thank them for coming to greet Sheldon
and spending time with him.

Baptiste really didn't want
to leave Sheldon,

so Sheldon told him:

"Don't worry - in a few years' time,
you'll be able to adopt me.

Then you'll have me at home."

A few days later, I received a phone call
from Baptiste's mother.

She said to me: "Hello, Maxime,
I've got a problem.

Baptiste left the robot's little heart
behind, and he said to me:

'Mom, how will I be able to adopt
a robot in a few years

if I can't even take care of his heart?'"

It made me understand the bond
Baptise had forged with the robot

in barely five minutes,

and that it was really important for him.

These companion robots
are really meaningful,

not because they tell you the time,
or retrieve your emails,

or can do videoconferencing.

You can do that with a computer.

Their meaning comes from providing
these applications in a social way,

with an extra social layer.

So what do I mean by triggering
our social reflexes?

Essentially, I'm talking
about body language.

It's well known that if someone reflects
our same body language back to us,

we get along better,
more easily, with that person.

If a person you don't know
gets too close to you,

you'll reject them.

Consequently, when a robot adopts
the same body language as you,

inevitably, communication
will take place much more easily.

When a robot uses the same signals as you,

you'll understand it.

I'll give you an example.

If the robot says "Yes" like this,
you're going to say:

"It's nodding its head. That means 'yes'."

If the robot tells you a joke
and winks, then you'll think:

"It's even got a sense of humor!"

But he truth is,
he's been programmed to wink.

And when it waves "Hi" like this,

the universal sign for "Hello,"

you'll understand
that the robot is greeting you.

We, human beings, are use these signals

to determine how intimate
we are going to be with someone.

It's the same thing for a robot.

I'm going to show you how it works
with TiKi, the robot on the scene.

Hello TiKi, could you
introduce yourself, please?

TiKi: But of course, Maxime.

Hello, everyone.

My name is TiKi, and I'm very happy
to be at TEDxClermont today.

Maxime Vallet: Thanks, TiKi!

What a great technological demonstration!

(Laughter)

You'll have noticed two things:

I squeezed his hand to activate him,
and he waved hello to you.

And he triggered in you

the desire to go further
in the relationship.

You think: "He's going to talk
more with the robot.

Let's see how far he can get
in the interaction."

It's this exact reflex,
this beginning of a reflex,

that robots can trigger in you,

and yet they are machines.

And that is what's different
about the IT tools we use today.

And even though, as I explained
at the beginning,

the technology isn't perfect yet,

I believe that the important
thing about robots

is that they help us to be more human.

Thank you.

(Applause)