Kismet robot showing fear. Kismet is a robot that has been designed to show facial expressions in response to what happens around it. The robot has been developed for the study of action recognition and learning. As well as fear, there are several other 'moods' that it can display. Researchers use movements (waving hands and moving toys) as visual stimuli. Kismet responds like a baby. When there are no stimuli, it has a sad face. During play, Kismet looks calm and happy. Excessive stimulation causes distress. Kismet has been developed by Cynthia Breazeal at the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. Work on Kismet started in 1998.