Recently, computer scientists
have been working on teaching machines to do a wider range of tasks around the
house. Recently, researchers demonstrated 'VirtualHome', a system that can
simulate detailed household tasks and then have artificial agents execute them,
opening up the possibility of one day teaching robots to do such tasks. The
team trained the system using nearly 3,000 programs of various activities,
which are further broken down into subtasks for the computer to understand.
A simple task like making coffee,
would also include the step grabbing a cup. The researchers demonstrated
VirtualHome in a 3D world inspired by the Sims video game. The AI agent can
execute 1,000 of these interactions in the Sims-style world, with 8 different
scenes including a living room, kitchen, dining room, bedroom, and home office.
The project was co-developed by researchers from CSAIL and the University of
Toronto, McGill University and the University of Ljubljana.
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