A team of engineers at Apple Computer has developed an expressive table lamp that interacts with a user rather than simply carrying out instructions. The group has posted a paper on the arXiv preprint server describing the factors that went into the development of the lamp and its current features. They have also posted several videos showing the robot lamp in action.
Many people have seen the movie called Luxo Jr., a short, animated film made by Pixar back in 1986. Luxo Jr. made an impression via its human-like behavior. It shrank back when surprised, for example, or leaned forward at times as though getting a better look at something, which made the viewer forget it had no eyes. It was just a desk lamp.
In this new effort, the team at Apple has resurrected the idea behind Luxo Jr. by creating a lamp that behaves very much the same. It can see via camera, hear via microphone, speak via speaker and move courtesy of tiny motors.
Its purpose, like any ordinary lamp, is to provide light via a bulb. But it does so as if it is aware of the needs of its owner. It can move its “face” closer, for example, by interpreting a beckoning gesture, or move farther away via a pushing gesture—or by responding to an oral request. It incorporates AI, as it demonstrates by first looking out the window before checking online when asked about the near-term forecast.
The research team suggests that the introduction of robots into homes is more likely to be via giving personality to home appliances, as opposed to setting loose a full-size humanoid. They also suggest virtually any appliance could be given some degree of expressiveness, and they demonstrate how.
They note that when a person is asked a question, they tend to react in physical ways before responding, quite often with accompanying physical movements. If a person is confused by a question, for example, they may pull their face back a bit and furrow their brow—and they might smile when an answer comes to them.
The researchers also note that giving appliances personality can make life more pleasant—their lamp begins dancing if music is turned on, for example, somewhat reminiscent of a pet cockatoo. They also demonstrate the usefulness of adding AI—their lamp is able to move its position to illuminate something a user is trying to examine, they note, without being asked.
More information:
Yuhan Hu et al, ELEGNT: Expressive and Functional Movement Design for Non-anthropomorphic Robot, arXiv (2025). DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2501.12493
arXiv
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Apple engineers create expressive Pixar-like table lamp with AI capabilities (2025, February 10)
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