Are humanoid robots ready to play important roles in everyday life?
That was the question posed by a recent BBC2 documentary which featured robots supplied by Rapid. Robotics experts at Plymouth University, the University of Westminster and Heriot-Watt University programmed the
NAO and
Pepper robots to provide support to people in specific situations, as a way of measuring where the technology is right now.
Six Robots and Us followed six families as they allowed a robot into their home - or in one case, their shop - to see if it was up to the job. Five-year-old Isaac has a rare form of dwarfism and a learning delay, and the NAO robot provided by the University of Westminster was programmed to help Isaac with his speech and offer dedicated one-to-one learning that would hold his attention. A family of three also undertook a fitness regime under the guidance of a Pepper robot, who was programmed to offer advice on a healthy lifestyle and the calorific content of foods.
Finally a family who run a chain of independent supermarkets in Scotland employed Pepper as a retail assistant, responding to customer enquiries and helping with promotions in-store. This is an environment in which these robots are already being used in Singapore, Japan and the US. Other robots were employed to provide home care for a woman with MS and help an autistic child.
It is a fascinating programme in which viewers find out more about how robots work, including their ability to perceive human emotions and speech. The robots involved are certainly works in progress, with plenty of scope for improvement, but it demonstrates the incredible innovation that is taking place in robotics and machine learning.
Watch the first episode here.
