Osaka University researchers have developed a new child robot platform called Affetto, which can make realistic facial expressions so humans can interact with it in a more natural way.

Prof. Asada is the leader of the JST ERATO Asada Project and his team has been working on “cognitive developmental robotics,” which aims to understand the development of human intelligence through the use of robots. Affetto is modeled after a one- to two-year-old child and will be used to study the early stages of human social development.