ROBOPHILOSOPHY

July 9, 2026July 9, 2026

Artificial Life and the Virtual Girlfriend

In 1999, Oliver Bendel moved from an institute in Trier to the University of St. Gallen, where he took a position as a project manager and doctoral researcher. At first, he planned to write his dissertation on learning and knowledge portals. However, he soon decided to pursue a different topic. From an early age, he had been fascinated by chatbots, voice assistants, and social robots. Some he knew from science fiction, while others he had encountered firsthand through observation and use. What fascinated him were not only the dialogue systems themselves, with which he had been experimenting since 1996, but also their visualizations and embodiments. He devoted his research to pedagogical agents – that is, chatbots, voice assistants, and AI agents in learning environments. He also examined emotion recognition systems and the earliest social robots. He devoted several pages to the company Artificial Life. Beginning in 1999, the company gained recognition with Einstein, an educational application distributed on CD-ROM. The chatbot was paired with a realistic-looking avatar that guided users through the life and work of the famous physicist from Ulm. At the beginning of the new millennium, the company made headlines again with another product: the Virtual Girlfriend for mobile phones designed for the then newly introduced 3G network. Users could care for her much like a Tamagotchi, which had been introduced a few years earlier, and they could buy her gifts – expensive ones, of course. For many years, she was available at v-girl.com. By that time, a number of companies had already discovered that users flirted with chatbots and their avatars, asking them how old they were, whether they had a boyfriend, and whether they were interested in a relationship. Artificial Life deliberately built on this phenomenon, creating an artifact that was as visionary as it was problematic, designed to foster profound emotional dependence within a one-sided relationship. Oliver Bendel later explored these issues in numerous journal articles and book chapters. In 2020, Springer Gabler published his book “Maschinenliebe (Machine Love)“. It summarized the state of research at the time on chatbots, love dolls, and sex robots.

July 3, 2026July 4, 2026

Goodbye, ICSR + Art 2026

The 18th International Conference on Social Robotics (ICSR + Art 2026) took place in London from July 1–4, bringing together researchers, academics, and industry professionals from around the world to explore the latest advances in social robotics. Hosted by Hooman Samani and Saina Akhond from the University of the Arts London, the conference welcomed around 350 participants who presented their latest research in the main track and special sessions while engaging in lively discussions with both humans and robots in the Debate Room. Teams also competed in the Grand Challenge, showcasing innovative concepts and working prototypes that demonstrated the future potential of social robotics. A series of inspiring keynote presentations explored emerging technologies as well as important methodological questions shaping the field, while robot performances and a memorable robot dance featuring Silke Grabinger added an artistic dimension to the event. Throughout the conference, attendees had the opportunity to meet an impressive range of social robots, including Furhat, Ameca, Euclid, Lovot, and Mirumi. Furhat and Ameca represented highly expressive humanoid platforms capable of remarkably lifelike interactions, while Euclid attracted particular attention as an open-source humanoid robot built for only a few hundred dollars, proving that affordable hardware can compete with well-known androids such as Sophia and Erika. In contrast, Lovot and Mirumi showcased the softer side of social robotics. Mirumi, a small furry wearable companion robot, charmed visitors with its ability to cling to the handle of a handbag using its tiny arms and is expected to appear soon in pop-up stores, particularly targeting girls and women. On the third evening, after a thought-provoking panel discussion and another series of robot performances, enthusiastic participants left the illuminated Senate House inspired by several days of groundbreaking research, creative collaboration, and a shared vision of how humans and robots will shape the future together. Further information is available at icsr2026.uk.

July 3, 2026July 4, 2026

Towards the KissMachine

The 18th International Conference on Social Robotics (ICSR + Art 2026) is currently taking place in London from July 1–4, bringing together researchers, academics, and industry professionals from around the world to discuss the latest advances in social robotics. On the second day of the conference, researchers presented their latest work during the poster session, including Oliver Bendel’s paper “Kiss Me More: Artificial Lips for Intimate Encounters”. The title is a tribute to Doja Cat’s hit “Kiss Me More”, reflecting the paper’s focus on technology-mediated intimacy. The paper introduces the concept of the KissMachine, a next-generation telekissing device with artificial lips designed to enable more intimate remote interactions while addressing the technical, social, and ethical challenges of such technology. It also pays tribute to the Kissenger, invented by Hooman Samani in 2012, one of the pioneering telekissing systems that inspired subsequent research in this field. The exchange between Bendel and Samani highlighted both the evolution of telekissing technology over the past decade and the continuing interest in human-centered approaches to social robotics. Further information is available at icsr2026.uk.

July 2, 2026July 4, 2026

Can MLLMs Distinguish Human Laughter?

The 18th International Conference on Social Robotics (ICSR + Art 2026) is currently taking place in London from July 1–4, bringing together researchers, academics, and industry professionals from around the world to explore the latest developments in social robotics. The conference serves as an international platform for exchanging ideas on how intelligent systems can better understand, interact with, and support people in everyday life. On the second day of the conference, Sahan Hatemo, a student at the FHNW School of Computer Science, presented the paper “Reading Between the Laughs: A Human-Referenced Audio Evaluation of MLLMs for Social Robotics”, co-authored with Dr. Katharina Kühne (University of Potsdam) and Prof. Dr. Oliver Bendel (FHNW School of Business). The study investigates whether today’s leading multimodal large language models (MLLMs) can distinguish authentic from non-authentic laughter using audio signals alone. As laughter is an important social cue, the ability to recognize its authenticity could significantly improve how robots and AI systems communicate with people in social settings. The researchers found notable differences in how the evaluated AI models interpreted laughter. OpenAI models showed a clear tendency to classify most laughter as genuine, while Gemini models were generally more skeptical in their assessments. Despite these contrasting biases, several models performed significantly better than chance, with Gemini 2.5 Pro achieving the strongest overall performance. A closer analysis also revealed qualitative differences in the models’ decision-making. Less capable models appeared to rely on superficial acoustic features, such as pitch, and were more likely to classify higher-pitched laughter as less authentic. In contrast, the best-performing model seemed to focus on more sophisticated aspects of voice quality, indicating a deeper understanding of the characteristics that distinguish genuine from non-authentic laughter. The findings demonstrate the growing potential of multimodal AI for social robotics. As robots increasingly become part of everyday environments, the ability to accurately interpret subtle social signals such as laughter could play a crucial role in fostering trust, improving communication, and strengthening human-robot relationships. Further information is available at icsr2026.uk.

June 29, 2026June 29, 2026

BMW Deploys Figure 03 in Spartanburg

As reported by Heise News in an article by Oliver Bünte published on June 29, 2026, BMW will deploy the new general-purpose robot Figure 03 robot for logistics tasks at its Spartanburg plant in the US. The robot will sort vehicle components for production, taking over repetitive work to support human workers. Compared to its predecessor, Figure 03 features several upgrades, including soft exterior materials for safer human-robot collaboration, wireless charging, and redesigned hands equipped with tactile sensors and cameras for greater precision. Following successful trials with the Figure 02 robot, BMW is using the new system as part of its broader digital transformation strategy, which also includes digital planning, 3D simulations, and a digital twin of the factory through its BMW iFactory approach. BMW is not the only automaker investing in general-purpose humanoid robots. Mercedes-Benz has already been testing the Apollo robot at its Berlin-Marienfelde plant, where it supports employees with repetitive logistics and manufacturing tasks. These deployments highlight a growing trend across the automotive industry to use humanoid robots for flexible, general-purpose applications on the factory floor.

June 23, 2026June 23, 2026

Fundamentals and Examples of Animal-Machine Interaction

On June 23, 2026, Oliver Bendel gave a presentation on animal-machine interaction to Prof. Dr. Emily Cross’s research group at ETH Zurich. He had been invited by Dr. Amol Deshmukh, whom he had met at the ICSR in Qatar and had seen several times since then. rom the announcement text : “Animal-Machine Interaction (AMI) explores encounters and interactions between animals and machines – from traditional devices, vehicles, aircraft, and agricultural machinery to networked autonomous robots and AI systems. At its core are perception through sensors and senses, interaction and communication between animals and machines, and the question of how these encounters can be designed from technical, organizational, and ethical perspectives to reduce risks for animals while unlocking benefits for both animals and humans. In his lecture, Prof. Dr. Oliver Bendel presents the fundamentals of Animal-Machine Interaction and describes prototypes and research projects in the field. He also outlines what may become possible and what can be expected in this area of research over the coming years.” The participants were very interested and asked several questions about this new and fascinating field. Springer Gabler recently published a slim volume titled “Tier-Maschine-Interaktion (Animal-Machine Interaction)” by Oliver Bendel.