Carnagie Mellon’s Robot-ionist
p2pnet.net News:- Valerie, Carnegie Mellon University’s new receptionist, “gets testy”.
But no one really minds.
That’s because she’s considered to be the world’s first robot receptionist with a personality, university officials are quoted as saying in an Associated Press story here.
And anyway – she can be charming too, says Kevin Snipes, “a graduate student in drama writing, one of four writers who came up with Valerie’s fictional character”.
She’s the result of a two-and-a-half-year collaboration between Carnegie Mellon’s computer science and drama departments, “with a goal of creating a socially skilled robot that engages people,” says the AP story, gon gon:
“Officials say the robot has potential commercial applications and the drama department may incorporate it in a musical cabaret ? despite her limited tone and pitch.
“She has no idea she’s awful,” Snipes said.
Valerie is a drum-shaped contraption with a digitally animated face that appears on a computer display, perched in a custom-made booth at the entrance of a computer science hall.
Visitors type on a keyboard to communicate with her, and she understands only simple questions.
