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If an adorable robot asked you a series of personal questions (“Who do you love most in the world?” “What really scares you?”), would you be more inclined to answer than if asked by a human?

As a part of a documentary project affiliated with the TriBeCa Film Festival, cute robots with video cameras for eyes have been filming people as they answer various sensitive questions.

Called “Robots in Residence” and created by robot company BlabDroid, the footage collected from Friday until Sunday, April 21 from festival attendees will be pieced together for a short film. It will become the first documentary filmed entirely by pre-programmed robots.

The concept is based on the “ELIZA effect,” a theory from a computer scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who believes people are more likely to engage emotionally with artificial intelligence than others.

The robots are small and unassuming, with a sweet smile and the voice of a seven-year-old boy. “Tell me something you’ve never told a stranger before,” it asks. From deep secrets to confessions of only visiting a dentist once, here’s a trailer of what to expect:

The robots are intended to be comforting and non-judgmental, so people can have real interactions with them. The company also launched a Kickstarter project this week to help bring the robots into the consumer market.

Robots in Residence is a part of the TriBeCa Film Festival’s first annual Storyscapes exhibit, which features five transmedia projects that embrace telling stories in a creative, unique way. One project will be named the winner.

What do you think of the project? Would you feel more comfortable telling personal information to a robot? Let us know in the comments below.

Images via Mashable

Read more: http://mashable.com/2013/04/19/robot-documentary/