Intelligence in robots is a relative thing, after all getting a robot to do what the human wants it to is actually just obeying orders. Researchers at the Human-Computer Interaction Laboratory (HCI Lab) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison are working towards making robots interact more than static computers.

Nao, a humanoid robot made by the Parisian company, Aldebaran Robotics can play a version of 20 questions with a human at the HCI lab. A number of objects are placed in a tray and the human must ask questions to figure out which one the robot has chosen. When the human gets the right object the robot congratulates the human with the enthusiasm of a child.

Another robot at the HCI lab is serving Sushi to human beings from a mock order table. The Nao robot chooses from various options based on what the human being has ordered. Of course it was not real sushi but wooden blocks resembling sushi that the robot was serving up as per order.

Human Computer Interaction is a new field that blends together computer science, design, behavioral science and more together. It is an exciting time to be part of a new generation of robot builders. This is a set of science projects that is going to keep researchers busy for a large number of years in the future.