Robot-maker Aldebaran has teamed up with voice-technology company Nuance to create a new robot that speaks 19 different languages.
(Aldebaran / Nuance robot video)
"He lives his life on your side at home," Marine Fabrea, Aldebaran's head of communications, told Mashable in an email. "You can discuss with him, you can ask him to tell a story to your kids."
The difference between these robots and mindless machines is built-in emotional intelligence, according to Arnd Weil, Nuance's vice-president and general manager of automotives.
"What they are trying to do with the robot is mainly capturing what is the mood of that other person," he said. "It's more like somebody's coming home and he had a bad day, he's angry, so the robot should capture that … and react accordingly."
Science fiction fans nostalgically remember C3PO, a droid who is, and I quote, "fluent in over six million forms of communication". Why not set the bar high, when you are setting the bar?
Mika The Robot-Boss
'the robot-boss was busy at the lip of the new lode instructing and egging the men on to greater speed...' - David C. Cooke, 1939.
Sensitive, Soft Robot Skin
'...tinted material that had all the feel and appearance of human flesh and epidermis.' - Harl Vincent, 1934.
Finger Sensors For Robot Hands
'What strange sensitivity! What an amazing development of science was manifested in every move and act and word of this Robot!' - Ray Cummings, 1931.
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