Robots have almost become like us in the East and the West, but it is time now to see them reach human scale in the Middle East. Because in order to have a better relationship with robots, they must interact more and share more experiences with humans, engineers at UAE University’s Interactive Robots and Media Lab in Al Ain have developed Ibn Sina, the world’s first Arabic-speaking humanoid robot.

Named after the 11th century Muslim doctor and thinker, the robot drew large crowds at the International Convention and Exhibition Centre booth of Acapela Group, where it was seen chatting with one and all in the ever famous Arabic. Based on “a number of conversational steps” or cues from the computer, and a voice software by France-based Acapela, Ibn Sina is still more than just a computer voice recognition software spitting out a few words. So he’s good to be our new friend in the Middle East.

Via: GulfNews488106