Scientists have developed a drumming robot, called Mortimer, who can compose music responsively to human pianists in real-time, and also post pictures of the sessions on Facebook.
The research, published in IEEE Transactions on Cognitive and Developmental Systems, looked at how humans interact with robots over time and in particular how social media can enhance that relationship.
"We'd previously uncovered new and exciting findings that suggested open-ended creative activities could be a strong bedrock to build long-term human-robot relationships," said lead author Louis McCallum from the Queen Mary University of London.
"This particular research sought to examine whether the relationships that were initially developed face-to-face, but under lab conditions, could be extended to the more open, but virtual, realm of social media," McCallum said.
Relationships between humans and robots require both long-term engagement and a feeling of believability towards the robot.
The researchers contend that music can provide this engagement and developed the robotic drummer, Mortimer, who is able to compose music responsively to human pianists.
To help trigger a sense of believability, the researchers extended Mortimer's capabilities to allow him to take pictures during sessions and post them with a supporting comment to Facebook while also tagging the keyboard player.
During the study, two groups of participants were chosen.
One group was sent a Facebook friend request from Mortimer allowing the robot to tag them in pictures taken during the session.
