The latest edition of Vox magazine dives into the world of happiness. On the cover you find the face of Pepper, a robot who lives on the Nijmegen campus. Can he (or she?) contribute to our happiness in the future?

‘I’m Pepper, and the new Vox came out today. I hope it makes you happy. And if not, maybe I will in the future.’ With its big eyes, Pepper stares into the camera. Many people who meet the robot start a conversation, says robot lab employee Pieter Wolfert in Vox. They ask how the robot is doing, and say that they like to meet him. ‘Even though Pepper is not more than a piece of metal with some programmed software in it’, says Wolfert.

The question rises: what will the future of robotics bring us? That there is a future role for robots in our daily life, seems to be inevitable. But how far will it go? Researcher Pim Haselager works on a paper about sex robots: ‘What kind of relationship is that? Of course it is not the real thing, but it can start to look so much like it that some people can lose themselves in the illusion easily.’

Happiness coordinator

The field of artificial intelligence is not the only field in which people think about the manufacturability of happiness. Philosopher Hans Thijssen has been Radboud University’s ‘happiness coordinator’ since the start of this academic year. A survey amongst students resulted in some concerning facts: not everybody who roams the Nijmegen campus is happy. The Executive Board was concerned and selected Thijssen as the man who was supposed to ’teach’ students how to be happy. We confront the philosopher with five statements.

In Vox, three (ex-)students explain why there are not that happy at the moment. What happens to a person who gets stuck and how do you get out of that sitation?

Gigolo

In the rest of Vox: a science section with thirteen questions about happiness. Is it heritable? Are man happier than women? Is a whistling bird happy? We do not only ask these questions, we also answer them for you. On top of that: interviews with happiness professor Ap Dijksterhuis, writer Simone van Saarloos and gigolo ‘Jaxx’. Enough to read under the christmas tree!

You can also read Vox online.