Furhat, a robot with the human touch, wants to hear your woes

Furhat, the social robot with a back-projected face that can change its personality and talk to people, is shown at a demonstration of the technology in London, Britain November 19, 2018. REUTERS/Stuart McDill

LONDON: Furhat tilts his or her head, smiles, exudes empathy and warmth, and encourages us to open up.

The robot, a three-dimensional bust with a projection of a human-like face, aims to build on our new-found ease talking to voice assistants like Siri and Alexa, by persuading us to interact with it as if it were a person, picking up on our cues to strike up a rapport.