CHIMPANZEES are willing to socialise and communicate with robots, researchers have claimed.
Dr Marina Davila-Ross, of the University of Portsmouth, has examined how primates interact with robots.
The study's results show chimps respond to even basic movements made by a robot, which the researchers believe demonstrates that chimps want to communicate and interact with other "creatures" on a social level.
They say that these basic forms of communication in chimpanzees help to promote greater social bonding and lead to more complex forms of social interaction.
The research outlines how chimps responded to a human-like robot about the size of a doll.
The chimps reacted to small movements made by the robot by inviting play, offering it toys and in one case even laughing at it. They also responded to being imitated by the robot.
The chimps responded in the same way they might to humans or other chimps. She said: "It's a demonstration of the basic human desire to communicate and it appears that chimpanzees share this readiness to communicate."
Dr Davila-Ross said the research paved the way for further study using robots to interact with primates and discover more about their social behaviour, such as how they make friends.
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