Extract: "After years of existing only in fiction, robots with personalities and expressive facial features are now beginning to find a place in real-world settings such as hospitals, schools, and nursing homes. In turn, scientists and engineers are seeking to improve how these robots are able to guide and support patients undergoing physical rehabilitation, act as teaching aides, serve as companions to the elderly confined to nursing homes, and be used for other dynamic purposes. These researchers are finding that for “social robots” to be effective, they have to be socially acceptable to people who interact with them. But what does it take to make a robot social and engaging? Should it walk and talk just like a person? Should it be emotionally expressive and responsive? Does the personality of the robot matter? What’s needed to get a robot and a human to work well together?"