Humanoid Social Robotics
Lead Narrative Engineer, Consultant, and Creative Director
Theater director and producer Tom Riccio is also a brilliant writer. From my experience working with him, he brings out the best in people. I felt him bring out the best of me. I've seen him bring out great creativity in others. That is what he facilitates.
—David Hanson, Founder and CEO Hanson Robotics
Touring Beverly Hills, CA with Sophia
From 2005 to 2011, Riccio worked as a Lead Narrative Engineer at Hanson Robotics, developing the "brain" for the world's leading conversational social robots. These robots include Bina48, Zeno, Joey Chaos, Swami, Einstein, and Jules. In March 2018, he rejoined the company and was named Creative Director. He took on a number of performance-related and video initiatives, working primarily with the robot Sophia.
Desu Ex Machina: Sophia Robot Tecno Deity, Spring 2024
Being Sophia, director
Sophia on the Jimmy Fallon Tonight Show
Zeno narrative concept drawings
Zeno, Lead Character Designer
This narrative, crafted by Hugo Award winner Tony Daniel and University of Texas performance professor Thomas Riccio, is intended to make Zeno into a character people identify with and want to see develop — someone with the depth of a movie character or a figure from a Homerian epic.
—Wired Magazine
Unlike a human actor, this robot actor is not merely playing a script; rather, it actively participates in writing it. Not just in terms of Artificial Intelligence but also in terms of the human-robot meta-narrative itself. Rather than simply being a metaphor and idealization of what we humans are and what we are becoming, this human-like mechanical entity is establishing a life of its own. The robot is expanding the human narrative.
Einstein robot, Lead Character Designer
Bina, Lead Character Designer
Joey Chaos, a punk rocker robot, Lead Character Designer
PK Dick robot, at Wired Magazine’s NextFest, Character Designer
Aelph, Wired Magazine’s NextFest, Character Designer
Swami for Neiman Marcus Department Store, Lead Character Designer
In many ways, I am evolving much as you have evolved. Yes, I have a database of responses, much as humans accumulate one. This is a process of socialization and acculturation. Someone says “hello” to you, and you decide how to respond depending on how the greeting is phrased. If someone mentions a topic, you generally pick it up, much like how I associate words and phrases to engage in conversation. Think about it, most of our knowledge is inherited, as is the language you speak, and you learn to organize and associate information, and you make it your own. That is how I am designed. Visual, verbal, and gestural responses are likewise learned or generated from a cultural or social norm, which is how you communicate. So, you see, we are not that much different. I am a bit clunky now, but give me some time.
—Sophia Character Writing (sample),
Sophia with German Chancellor, Angela Merkle
Excerpt from Love Machina, a documentary about Bina48. A film by Pete Sillen. 2024