Empathy swarm

Can robots feel empathy? Artists Katrin Hochschuh and Adam Donovan address this question in their exhibition, Empathy swarm, the culmination of an extensive research project experimenting with human-robot social interaction. Using emotion recognition algorithms and camera tracking, a swarm of 50 robots adapts its behaviour and interacts with the observer. Its formations, animations and behaviour become the vocabulary of swarm expression. Visitors to the exhibition will experience the swarm of a fluid robot formation and discover how machines derive compassionate responses to humans.