Bristol researchers say therapy robots should behave more like horses

Drawing on equine-assisted therapy, University of Bristol researchers note that horses respond to calm, confident body language and resist tense cues, which helps people notice and regulate their own emotions. Most social robots, by contrast, are built to be obedient and predictable. The team proposes therapeutic robots that act as active partners, declining to engage until a user has settled. The paper, presented in Yokohama, challenges the default assumption that a companion robot should always comply.

Source: Tech Xplore (University of Bristol)