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02/20/2003

What's Real?

Last week, I noted that the beach here on Marco Island was
remarkably devoid of shells larger than about an inch in size. In
two weeks of walking the beach I saw no more than a handful of
the larger shells, in contrast to the usual hundreds or thousands
on the same stretch of beach. Finally, it dawned on me. The
waves in the Gulf were breaking some 20 to 50 yards off shore,
not on the beach as in the past. Had a sandbar formed out there?
Sure enough, this past Sunday morning my analysis proved
correct. The tide was out, way out, and there lay exposed a
sandbar upon which were hundreds of large shells.

I returned to our lodging feeling smug that I had correctly
deduced the reason for the paucity of shells. On the way I met a
lady walking a cute little dog. Then, on the “Sunday Morning”
TV show, I watched a segment featuring Bill Geist and Martha
Teichner proclaiming the merits and demerits of owning
cats and dogs, respectively. Normally, I would side with Geist
but, not being enamored with felines, I went with Martha and
dogs. But, in the blizzard conditions that just hammered our
home base in New Jersey, there is a distinct disadvantage to
owning a dog – the need to venture outdoors to accommodate to
its waste disposal habits.

In such weather, a dog lover might wish to consider owning a
robotic version instead of a live dog. Some years ago, Sony
came out with a very pricey robotic dog. In the March 2003
issue of Discover magazine, I could see why it was so pricey. In
an article by Christine Kenneally, the inner workings of a couple
of the newer models of Sony’s robotic dogs are pictured. The
dogs are filled with an impressive network of electronic circuitry
and motors to provide motion in its limbs, mouth and neck areas.
And what would a dog be without a wagging tail and perky ears?

The dogs are called AIBOs, for Artificially Intelligent robots and
contain a sophisticated computer processor to control its motions.
The degree to which an AIBO can mimic a living dog depends
on the number of “degrees of freedom” built into it. Take an
elevator as an example. I would say that an elevator has two
degrees of freedom. It can go up or down – that’s one degree of
freedom. It’s doors can open or close that’s another degree of
freedom. (You might say that each door can open or close and
hence there are three degrees of freedom. You’re being picky,
but maybe you’re right.) According to the Discover article, the
AIBO has 20 degrees of freedom – one in the mouth (open,
close), two in the tail (side to side and up and down), three in the
neck and in each leg, and one in each ear. With these 20 degrees
of freedom, AIBO can mimic a thousand movements of a real
dog.

With sensors in its head to give AIBO visual capabilities, it can
spot and follow a red ball tossed in front of it and push the ball
with its paws. Even with all these capabilities, it’s doubtful that
a robotic version can ever replace the devoted canine of choice.
But now some scientists are coming up with their own peculiar
uses of AIBOs. Robotic dogs are being introduced into the time-
honored field of studying the interactions of various animals with
mock members of their own species.

These studies have utilized ratbots, birdbots and beebots, for
example. One objective of these studies is to get down on the
animal’s level to study its behavior when confronted by one of its
kind that can be controlled by the experimenter. Take the
beebot, which looks not the least bit like a bee, with a broken
razor blade for a wing, a plastic sleeve that delivers scented sugar
water. The beebot mimics the vibrations of a bee doing its
“waggle” dance to direct the bees to a source of nectar. How can
the bees be deceived by such a crude imitation? Well, it’s dark
in the hive and they can’t see the beebot. Apparently they also
can’t hear the vibrations. The beebot work of Alex Michelsen in
Denmark suggests that the bees respond to the oscillations in the
air generated by the beebot. At any rate, the bees found the
nectar sources as “danced” by the beebot.

A ratbot, just a clump of fur over a moveable robot, can mimic a
rat going towards a food source and stimulate aggressive
behavior on the part of a hungry rat. A more realistic female
bowerbirdbot can be placed in the courtship area or bower and
made to fluff its feathers and assume various positions. This
deceptive study tested when or whether a male bowerbird
succumbs to the fake female’s seductive overtures. In these
experiments it’s as though we’ve shrunk ourselves down to the
animal’s size, sort of the equivalent of putting on a gorilla
costume and living with a gorilla clan (a dangerous ploy I should
think).

With AIBO, Sony researcher Frederic Kaplan and Adam Miklosi
of the Eotvos Lorand University of Budapest got together to
explore what makes a dog recognize another dog as a dog. More
to the point, would a dog recognize AIBO as a dog or as a
machine? AIBO is programmed to follow objects that are red in
color. Raw meat is red enough to attract AIBO’s attention. Put a
Belgian shepherd at a feeding dish containing raw meat and turn
AIBO loose. When the Belgian growls as AIBO walks towards
the dish, unlike a normal dog AIBO just plods ahead. The
Belgian takes umbrage at this behavior and charges AIBO with
the intent of doing it bodily harm. Obviously, the Belgian
considers AIBO as another dog, or if not, certainly a creature
threatening to wolf down his meal.

Kenneally points out that a modern dog has a heritage of over
14,000 years living closely with humans and that a dog is not just
a friendly wolf. Over time, this cohabitation with humans has
led the dog to see the world and behave in it in a very different
manner than a wolf. To compare dogs’ reactions to different
degrees of dogginess, the researchers exposed 40 pet dogs to four
different objects - a real puppy, an AIBO in its natural metallic
state, an AIBO covered with fur and stored in a puppy’s sleeping
box to give it a doggy scent, and a toy car. These test “vehicles”
were sent in one at a time with food present and with no food.
The pet dog subjects were adult dogs and puppies.

The adult dogs, as might be expected, showed a distinct interest
in both the real puppy and the furry AIBO. Much less interest
was shown when the toy car or the unadorned AIBO were
introduced. The experiments were performed both with and
without food being present. With food at stake, the growling was
much more prevalent with a real puppy than with the furry
AIBO, indicating that the dogs figured out that the puppy was
more of a threat to its meal. The unfurry AIBO and the toy car
drew substantially less attention, even with food.

The younger dogs were less discriminating. They would growl
at the furry and unfurry AIBOs and at the puppy but not at the
toy car. However, it didn’t take the dogs long to figure out that
AIBO wasn’t a real dog. The key here is that AIBO doesn’t have
the capability of moving or responding speedily, as would a real
dog. It cannot interact with the dogs. When AIBO would move,
the dogs would become interested again.

So, how does a dog recognize another dog normally? It uses a
combination of its senses of vision, smell and hearing – a sniff
here, a sniff there and a bark or a growl thrown in. A dog’s sense
of smell is a very important sense in a dog’s life. However, in
the thousands of years of living with humans, it has learned to
adapt to the visual and, I should think, spoken cues and
commands that humans use.

Some researchers like to turn the tables and suggest that studies
that reveal the nature of the dog’s reactions on the dog level may
reveal something about ourselves. A dog’s environment is us. If
we can examine our own visually dominated world from the
standpoint of the dog it could shed light on how we have evolved
in our interactions with our pets and our environment. As for
AIBO’s future, it’s clear that its makers will have to speed it up
and give it more of an interactive character to make those smart
dogs truly accept it as one of their own.

And how easily fooled are we as to what is real and what isn’t?
As Kenneally suggests, we’re “wired to see life where it isn’t.”
“Think Miss Piggy.” Hey, I don’t know about you, but when I
see Katie Couric interviewing Kermit and Miss Piggy on the
Today show, I have no trouble with a frog and a pig engaged in
stimulating conversation.

Allen F. Bortrum



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-02/20/2003-      
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Dr. Bortrum

02/20/2003

What's Real?

Last week, I noted that the beach here on Marco Island was
remarkably devoid of shells larger than about an inch in size. In
two weeks of walking the beach I saw no more than a handful of
the larger shells, in contrast to the usual hundreds or thousands
on the same stretch of beach. Finally, it dawned on me. The
waves in the Gulf were breaking some 20 to 50 yards off shore,
not on the beach as in the past. Had a sandbar formed out there?
Sure enough, this past Sunday morning my analysis proved
correct. The tide was out, way out, and there lay exposed a
sandbar upon which were hundreds of large shells.

I returned to our lodging feeling smug that I had correctly
deduced the reason for the paucity of shells. On the way I met a
lady walking a cute little dog. Then, on the “Sunday Morning”
TV show, I watched a segment featuring Bill Geist and Martha
Teichner proclaiming the merits and demerits of owning
cats and dogs, respectively. Normally, I would side with Geist
but, not being enamored with felines, I went with Martha and
dogs. But, in the blizzard conditions that just hammered our
home base in New Jersey, there is a distinct disadvantage to
owning a dog – the need to venture outdoors to accommodate to
its waste disposal habits.

In such weather, a dog lover might wish to consider owning a
robotic version instead of a live dog. Some years ago, Sony
came out with a very pricey robotic dog. In the March 2003
issue of Discover magazine, I could see why it was so pricey. In
an article by Christine Kenneally, the inner workings of a couple
of the newer models of Sony’s robotic dogs are pictured. The
dogs are filled with an impressive network of electronic circuitry
and motors to provide motion in its limbs, mouth and neck areas.
And what would a dog be without a wagging tail and perky ears?

The dogs are called AIBOs, for Artificially Intelligent robots and
contain a sophisticated computer processor to control its motions.
The degree to which an AIBO can mimic a living dog depends
on the number of “degrees of freedom” built into it. Take an
elevator as an example. I would say that an elevator has two
degrees of freedom. It can go up or down – that’s one degree of
freedom. It’s doors can open or close that’s another degree of
freedom. (You might say that each door can open or close and
hence there are three degrees of freedom. You’re being picky,
but maybe you’re right.) According to the Discover article, the
AIBO has 20 degrees of freedom – one in the mouth (open,
close), two in the tail (side to side and up and down), three in the
neck and in each leg, and one in each ear. With these 20 degrees
of freedom, AIBO can mimic a thousand movements of a real
dog.

With sensors in its head to give AIBO visual capabilities, it can
spot and follow a red ball tossed in front of it and push the ball
with its paws. Even with all these capabilities, it’s doubtful that
a robotic version can ever replace the devoted canine of choice.
But now some scientists are coming up with their own peculiar
uses of AIBOs. Robotic dogs are being introduced into the time-
honored field of studying the interactions of various animals with
mock members of their own species.

These studies have utilized ratbots, birdbots and beebots, for
example. One objective of these studies is to get down on the
animal’s level to study its behavior when confronted by one of its
kind that can be controlled by the experimenter. Take the
beebot, which looks not the least bit like a bee, with a broken
razor blade for a wing, a plastic sleeve that delivers scented sugar
water. The beebot mimics the vibrations of a bee doing its
“waggle” dance to direct the bees to a source of nectar. How can
the bees be deceived by such a crude imitation? Well, it’s dark
in the hive and they can’t see the beebot. Apparently they also
can’t hear the vibrations. The beebot work of Alex Michelsen in
Denmark suggests that the bees respond to the oscillations in the
air generated by the beebot. At any rate, the bees found the
nectar sources as “danced” by the beebot.

A ratbot, just a clump of fur over a moveable robot, can mimic a
rat going towards a food source and stimulate aggressive
behavior on the part of a hungry rat. A more realistic female
bowerbirdbot can be placed in the courtship area or bower and
made to fluff its feathers and assume various positions. This
deceptive study tested when or whether a male bowerbird
succumbs to the fake female’s seductive overtures. In these
experiments it’s as though we’ve shrunk ourselves down to the
animal’s size, sort of the equivalent of putting on a gorilla
costume and living with a gorilla clan (a dangerous ploy I should
think).

With AIBO, Sony researcher Frederic Kaplan and Adam Miklosi
of the Eotvos Lorand University of Budapest got together to
explore what makes a dog recognize another dog as a dog. More
to the point, would a dog recognize AIBO as a dog or as a
machine? AIBO is programmed to follow objects that are red in
color. Raw meat is red enough to attract AIBO’s attention. Put a
Belgian shepherd at a feeding dish containing raw meat and turn
AIBO loose. When the Belgian growls as AIBO walks towards
the dish, unlike a normal dog AIBO just plods ahead. The
Belgian takes umbrage at this behavior and charges AIBO with
the intent of doing it bodily harm. Obviously, the Belgian
considers AIBO as another dog, or if not, certainly a creature
threatening to wolf down his meal.

Kenneally points out that a modern dog has a heritage of over
14,000 years living closely with humans and that a dog is not just
a friendly wolf. Over time, this cohabitation with humans has
led the dog to see the world and behave in it in a very different
manner than a wolf. To compare dogs’ reactions to different
degrees of dogginess, the researchers exposed 40 pet dogs to four
different objects - a real puppy, an AIBO in its natural metallic
state, an AIBO covered with fur and stored in a puppy’s sleeping
box to give it a doggy scent, and a toy car. These test “vehicles”
were sent in one at a time with food present and with no food.
The pet dog subjects were adult dogs and puppies.

The adult dogs, as might be expected, showed a distinct interest
in both the real puppy and the furry AIBO. Much less interest
was shown when the toy car or the unadorned AIBO were
introduced. The experiments were performed both with and
without food being present. With food at stake, the growling was
much more prevalent with a real puppy than with the furry
AIBO, indicating that the dogs figured out that the puppy was
more of a threat to its meal. The unfurry AIBO and the toy car
drew substantially less attention, even with food.

The younger dogs were less discriminating. They would growl
at the furry and unfurry AIBOs and at the puppy but not at the
toy car. However, it didn’t take the dogs long to figure out that
AIBO wasn’t a real dog. The key here is that AIBO doesn’t have
the capability of moving or responding speedily, as would a real
dog. It cannot interact with the dogs. When AIBO would move,
the dogs would become interested again.

So, how does a dog recognize another dog normally? It uses a
combination of its senses of vision, smell and hearing – a sniff
here, a sniff there and a bark or a growl thrown in. A dog’s sense
of smell is a very important sense in a dog’s life. However, in
the thousands of years of living with humans, it has learned to
adapt to the visual and, I should think, spoken cues and
commands that humans use.

Some researchers like to turn the tables and suggest that studies
that reveal the nature of the dog’s reactions on the dog level may
reveal something about ourselves. A dog’s environment is us. If
we can examine our own visually dominated world from the
standpoint of the dog it could shed light on how we have evolved
in our interactions with our pets and our environment. As for
AIBO’s future, it’s clear that its makers will have to speed it up
and give it more of an interactive character to make those smart
dogs truly accept it as one of their own.

And how easily fooled are we as to what is real and what isn’t?
As Kenneally suggests, we’re “wired to see life where it isn’t.”
“Think Miss Piggy.” Hey, I don’t know about you, but when I
see Katie Couric interviewing Kermit and Miss Piggy on the
Today show, I have no trouble with a frog and a pig engaged in
stimulating conversation.

Allen F. Bortrum