Robot doll. Robota II,a robotic baby doll,learn- ing from its creator,Aude Billard. The doll is mimicking Billard's head movements by detecting infrared light produced from her glasses. It can move its head and limbs. The doll's sensors allow it to react to touch,movement and sound,as well as computer and joystick commands. Robota II is controlled by an artificial neural network (ANN),enabling it,for example,to link mimicked movements to melodies to produce a dance response to music. It can also learn simple sentences. Dr Billard is at the University of Southern California's Robotics Lab,USA |