Laughter in human vocal interaction is commonly seen as a type of non-verbal signal that helps organizing social interaction. It is, however, commonly considered to be an understudied phenomenon in the field of phonetics and linguistics as well as in the field of social robotics. After an introduction to possible socio- linguistic functions of laughter in human interaction, I will first report on the results of a recent study on the appropriateness of laughter for two humanoid robots, Robovie II and Robovie R2, rev ealing interesting intercultural differences. Then I will present ongoing research with the android “Geminoid HI-1". With this research we are, first, interested in the question, whether the emotional reactions toward the android changes, when it starts laughing, and, secondly, we hope to gain insights into the social effects of laughter in a very systematic and controlled manner following the ideas of “Android Science”. Finally, I will conclude my talk by showing how this research fits into the broader context of “Affective Computing”, hoping for an interesting discussion.”