Do you remember the Sophia Robot? When the Sophia robot was first launched, there were other few robots in the industry too, not many people were even giving it attention.
Sophia Robot | Going for mass production
In 2017, Sophia made first headlines, when it got the full citizenship of Saudi Arabia. At that time, it was the first robot to achieve that status.
History of Sophia Robot
Sophia robot was developed by the Hong Kong based research center Hanson robotics. It was activated on 14 February 2016. Sophia uses speech recognition technology from Alphabet Inc. (Parent Company of Google).
The interesting fact about Sophia is that it was modeled after the ancient Egyptian queen Nefertiti, Audrey Hepburn, and her inventor’s wife.
Sophia imitates human gestures and facial expressions and is able to answer certain predefined questions and to make conversations based on predefined topics (e.g. on global warming).
Hanson Robotics designed Sophia to be suitable for taking care of the elders at the nursing homes or to help the crowds at large events or parks.
In 2017, Sophia made the first headlines and gathered global attention, when it got full citizenship of Saudi Arabia.
Ok, enough about the history, so let’s see its features and see, what features it possesses.
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Features
Sophia is one of the most famous humanoid robots. Sophia’s eyes are combined with cameras, which allow her to see. She can sustain eye contact and recognize individuals. It has almost 50 facial expressions. She is able to process speech and can have a conversation using a natural processing system.
Sophia uses a similar software like ELIZA. The software has been programmed in such a way, that it gives the pre-written responses to some specific questions, like a Chatbot. These responses are used to create the illusion, such that the robot can understand the conversation, including some generic questions.
David Hanson has said that Sophia would be a good fit to serve in the field of healthcare, customer, service, and education. In 2019, Sophia demonstrated her ability to create drawings, including portraits.
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Recent News – Sophia Going for mass production
These types of robots are designed to take care of the sick, elderly because they can communicate, provide therapy, or provide social stimulation even in complicated situations.
Hanson Robotics founder and chief executive, David Hanson, said that the company is planning to manufacture thousands of robots of many different sizes in 2021.
Reuters noted that, according to the international federation of robots, worldwide sales of professional service robots jumped to approx. 32%, which is really remarkable.
COVID-19 has unlocked more opportunities in the field of robotics & automation.