Companion Robot

The science of robotics is making a giant leap from virtual humans (VH) to truly social robots, the first of which is named Nadine. At the core of Nadine’s development is an artificial intelligence (AI) system that includes a range of emotions and a short-term memory linked to a language database (including English, French, German, and, soon, Chinese and Italian), along with gesture and facial recognition.

The result is a humanoid that can look you in the eye, greet you, remember your face, alter her facial expressions, have a chat with you, play games, read stories, and answer questions based on previous conversations. Soon, she’ll even be able to talk on Skype.

Nadine was developed specifically for individuals with special mental health needs, such as people with autism and those who suffer from severe loneliness or depression, but her functionality can be adapted to address a variety of other specific needs. The developers are also working on robotic companions for children to act as a playmate and to monitor their behavior, as well as train them to be bilingual by speaking to them in another language.