CuGo

CuGo is an interactive board game, where human and robot players collaborate to achieve a shared goal. It consists of a game board, on which modular reconfigurable robots perform unpredictable movements, and passive blocks are moved by both human and robot players. The goal of the game is to stack the passive blocks as high as possible. The player moves the passive blocks on the board into a position where they think the robot can grab them. When the passive blocks are in a reachable zone, the robots use their inverse kinematic intelligence to reach the passive units, but when they are not accessible, the robots suggest alternative positions to the player. 

CuGo introduces a user-friendly environment not only for technologists, but for people without any AI-related knowledge. With a proper learning model, CuGo creates a mutual learning system where players can observe how the robot performs and learn the logic behind their movements. At the same time, the robots can gradually build their ‘personality’, namely unique ways of moving. The current gaming process is a basic demonstration of the CuGo system, future variants of CuGo with a further developed learning ability could provide more freedom to play, allowing human players to design their own rules and goals for the game. 

Image: CuGo, by Peng Gao and Kongpyung Moon

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