Apple experiment shows:

How “emotional” robots gain our trust

Looks like a desk lamp, but is an "expressive" high-tech robot with beamer and loudspeaker: Apple researchers demonstrate their new invention.(Bild: Apple Machine Learning Research)

Apple normally works on new innovations behind closed doors; upcoming products are a secret. However, a team from the company's own machine learning laboratory has now revealed an interesting robot prototype called ELEGNT - including a video and study.

At first glance, the amazing robot is reminiscent of the logo of US animation studio Pixar - the idiosyncratic Luxo Jr lamp that develops a life of its own in the intros to Pixar films. But the robot is real, goes by the name ELEGNT and is designed to prove that we humans prefer to interact with "emotional" robots that act as if they have feelings, rather than with computationally efficient machines. Krone+ reveals what ELEGNT can do, how the intelligent lamp expresses its "feelings" and why the prototype could be followed by a real Apple product ...