If you, like me, end up lost in big multiplexes of nowadays, you’ll appreciate this news for sure. Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute (ATR) based in Osaka has demonstrated a humanoid robot that recognizes people who seem lost and helps them pronto. Named Robovie, this is the cutest robot on planet earth, excepting those Hello Kitty automatons and its helping abilities were put on display at the Universal Citiwalk Osaka. In an earmarked area – measuring 100 square meters – the robot scanned every passerby’s face. A total of l16 cameras, 6 laser range finders and 9 RFID tag readers installed in and around the area acted as eyes and ears of the little fella. Watching 20 people at a time, the robot read their actions to categorize them into 10 different categories like waiting, wandering, running, etc.
But most importantly, the robot recognized those who looked lost. The people who looked disoriented were identified by this robot, which then proceeded to ask them if they were lost. If people acknowledged this, Robovie proceeded to give them the directions to their destinations, else it engaged in a bit of publicity and recommended nearby shops and restaurants.
The demo has been quite successful and buoyed by this the company has said that it might start selling robots around mid way this year. I find the whole concept of Robovie especially useful, more so for tracking kids who tend to get lost in big malls.
