She looks almost like a human being, with soft skin and flowing brunette
hair. She smiles when greeting you, looks at you in the eye when
talking, and can also shake hands with you.
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Nadia Thalmann (left) posing beside Nadine
Credit: Image courtesy of Nanyang Technological University
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Unlike conventional robots, Nadine has her own personality, mood and
emotions. She can be happy or sad, depending on the conversation. She
also has a good memory, and can recognise the people she has met, and
remembers what the person had said before.
Nadine is the latest social robot developed by scientists at NTU. The
doppelganger of its creator, Prof Nadia Thalmann, Nadine is powered by
intelligent software similar to Apple's Siri or Microsoft's Cortana.
Nadine can be a personal assistant in offices and homes in future. And
she can be used as social companions for the young and the elderly.
A humanoid like Nadine is just one of the interfaces where the
technology can be applied. It can also be made virtual and appear on a
TV or computer screen, and become a low-cost virtual social companion.
With further progress in robotics sparked by technological
improvements in silicon chips, sensors and computation, physical social
robots such as Nadine are poised to become more visible in offices and
homes in future.
The rise of social robots
Prof Thalmann, the director of the Institute for Media Innovation who
led the development of Nadine, said these social robots are among NTU's
many exciting new media innovations that companies can leverage for
commercialisation.
"Robotics technologies have advanced significantly over the past few
decades and are already being used in manufacturing and logistics. As
countries worldwide face challenges of an aging population, social
robots can be one solution to address the shrinking workforce, become
personal companions for children and the elderly at home, and even serve
as a platform for healthcare services in future," explained Prof
Thalmann, an expert in virtual humans and a faculty from
NTU's School of
Computer Engineering.
"Over the past four years, our team at NTU have been fostering
cross-disciplinary research in social robotics technologies -- involving
engineering, computer science, linguistics, psychology and other fields
-- to transform a virtual human, from within a computer, into a
physical being that is able to observe and interact with other humans.
"This is somewhat like a real companion that is always with you and
conscious of what is happening. So in future, these socially intelligent
robots could be like C-3PO, the iconic golden droid from Star Wars,
with knowledge of language and etiquette."
