Cynthia Breazeal introduces the expressive robot Leonardo, who hopes to be a movie star someday.

Today's special effects teams are capable of creating just about anything Hollywood can envision. Some of the best special effects wizardry appeared in Steven Speilberg's film "A.I." in which robots were realistically brought to life. For movie-going audiences, one such robot, a cuddly and clever computerized bear named Teddy, became the ultimate toy. Teddy was actually the ultimate puppet, one of the most lifelike ever built by Stan Winston Studio. Winston has now teamed up with computer scientist Cynthia Breazeal to create not a puppet, but a self-sufficient robot that's even more animated and expressive than Teddy.

Breazeal has long been perfecting the melding of machine and human expression. In 1999, she introduced Alan Alda to a robot named Kismet whom she developed as a graduate student at MIT's AI Lab. Kismet's facial features could communicate a wide range of emotions - from happiness to surprise to disappointment. By combining Breazeal's technological expertise with Winston's puppet-making skills, the team has unveiled their new creation - a furry little robot named Leonardo.

Leonardo's realistic expressions make people want to interact with him, which in turn helps him to learn more about social behavior.

FRONTIERS was given an exclusive first look at Leonardo at Winston's studio in Los Angeles. Leonardo has a total of 61 moveable parts that will one day be used to display an astonishing array of expressions. To date, the team's brainchild is still "brainless," awaiting the final touches on the bank of computers that will control his actions. But in the end, the hope is that Leonardo's creators will be able to make him so realistic, people will interact with him very differently than they would with a traditional computer. And the more interested people are in Leonardo, the more this little machine can learn about being human.

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Intelligent by Design