Can a robot be your friend?

This video — looking at the development of "social" robots by Yale computer scientist Brian Scassellati and his laboratory — is part of the "Focus Forward" series produced by GE featuring "stories about innovative people who are reshaping the world through act or invention, directed by the world's most celebrated documentary filmmakers." The film was directed by Liz Garbus, an Academy Award-nominated and Emmy Award-winning producer and director. It includes the research of two of Scassellati's graduate students (Justin Hart and Dan Leyzberg), and four of his undergraduate research assistants appear in the film (Devon Balicki, Sam Spalding, Caroline Jaffe, and Kenny Castanada).
Related story: