One of the joys of being back at university is the unexpected bits of inspiration that pop up. Today was one of those days when…well…
This is Nao.
Nao came in to visit today, with one of the PhD students who is doing some research on robot-human interaction. I’ve never seen anything quite like him/her (decision to be made really).
I mean, how can you not love something like this:
Nao can dance, can walk, can talk and can interact with you. He/she plays this sports game where he/she mimes the sport and you guess.
Nao gets to know you. “Look at my eyes until they turn green”. And they do.
It is fair to say that every single student who met Nao was utterly entranced by him. I would love a Nao of my every own. Nao has five thousand brothers and sisters dotted around the world. Surely there could be one for me?
Here is Nao dancing:
And Gangam style thanks to the University of Canterbury
This is the promo video from Nao’s parents, Aldebaran Robotics.
Here’s what I would do if I wanted to get more people into information technology, computer science and related cutting edge technology. I would acquire a couple of these robots, and I would hand them over to school outreach programs. And I would send them into primary schools and junior cycle secondary and I would say “Look at what you can do if you study work on maths and related.”
This is the stuff of dreams and inspiration. We’re behind the game, I think, if we’re putting iPads into school. If we put Nao into schools, we are putting the future into schools.
Very few schools have the funds to fund a robot like this. It is something that needs to be done at a national level, or possibly by the universities.