Click to play videoNew Delhi: When it comes to robots, we know they're clever at doing things - but what about machines that can think and feel for themselves?
Though it might sound a bit like science fiction, but the technology for artificial intelligence to have emotions already exists and a scientist in South Korea is claiming a breakthrough in the development of human-like machines.
Designing a truly intelligent robot - one that can think and feel on its own - is the Holy Grail for scientists and robotics professor Kim Jong-Hwan is busy creating one.
Working in a lab Kim believes he is creating nothing less than the origin of artificial species.
"Evolutionary concepts have been used in engineering. So motivated by Charles Darwin, I thought of artificial genomes for robots," says Kim.
The professor is best known for creating the Federation of International Robot Soccer, where droids battle it out on the pitch.
However, his latest project focuses not on the brawn but on the brain - a robot with human qualities and feelings and with a design based on genetics.
He has designed Rity - a cute puppy avatar who's a lot more complex than he appears.
Kim calls it a 'sobot' or 'software robot. Rity is programmed with artificial chromosomes to create human personality traits and like a genie in a lamp; he springs to life when stimulated.
The software robot can even move from machine to machine at will or to the body of another robot and shows 77 different behavior patterns.
"The robot may act like a real dog, but a sobot takes it one step further. He's actually trained to recognise his master. All I have to do is turn to this camera and in an instant; he knows exactly who I am. And pretty soon he won't leave me alone," Kim adds.
A human-like robot may seem downright creepy but Kim says there applications are for good instead of evil.
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