IBM teaching robots social skills such as hand gestures and sarcasm

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Engineers showed clips of humans speaking to robots using special code
Machines were then able to 'learn' common gestures and voice tones
Allowed the robots to master things such as impatience and sarcasm

Published: 00:26 EST, 27 September 2015 | Updated: 01:04 EST, 27 September 2015

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There was a time when all computers could do was solve math problems, but since then they have become powerhouses in our pockets - able to access a world of data with just a tap of the screen.

Now engineers around the world have taught them to walk, run, and even speak - though none have yet managed to match human conversation.

However, a team at IMB is now attempting to change that by teaching its newest generation of robots social skills, such as hand gestures, 'eye' contact and speech intonation.

Robert High, from IMB (pictured), demonstrated how robots can be taught social skills by holding a conversation with this robot in which it used hand gestures, changed voice tone, and even used sarcasm

At the recent Robo Business conference, IBM said it has been using algorithms - complex pieces of code - to analyse footage of humans talking to one another, teaching them to pick up on the gestures and tones of voice used.

In the 1970s, Albert Mehrabian, a professor from UCLA, published a famous study in which he estimated that 93 per cent of all human communication is non-verbal.

He estimated that around 55 per cent of meaning was derived from body language, while another 38 per cent of meaning came from tone of voice, and only seven per cent from the words being said.

While the exact numbers have been debated since, it clearly demonstrated the importance of non-verbal skills when communicating with others.

It also helps to explain why robot communications can often feel clunky, confusing, or downright ridiculous when attempted via mediums such as online chat-bots.

Robert High, one of the chief technology officers at IBM, said the need for realistic robot communications will only increase as they become more integrated into our work and home lives.

Demonstrating his research to MIT Technology Review at a conference in California, he spoke with a robot that used human-like hand gestures and voice tones to enhance its speech.

Researchers said that enabling robots to hold meaningful conversations with people would become increasingly necessary as they moved into our homes and places of work

The robot, a Nao model from the company Aldebaran, even managed to use sarcasm and mimic impatience - making a watch-tapping gesture when King's speech went on for a long time.

High explained that IMB is using its Watson computing technology in order to teach robots social skills, building on the work they have done in recent years.

While traditional computers use rigid sets of information entered into databases, then process that data to come up with answers, Watson works more like a human brain would.

Dubbed 'cognitive computing', Watson can look at an array of data - such as news articles, journals, books, and social media posts - and use them to understand the context of what is being said, not just the literal words themselves.

When given access to huge sets of data, such as the internet, this allows the computer to work out answers to complex questions drawing on a range of sources - like answer a question on an exam.

Watson was even able to win the TV show Jeopardy!, drawing on its vast knowledge.

High added: 'We’re still experimenting, seeing what’s doable and what’s useful, and what will have economic interest.'