If you attended the AT and Universal Design Expo and Conference in 2011 at the Hynes Convention Center you must have seen the Nao humanoid robot. He danced and sang for Governor Patrick.
Well Nao is currently being tested in school districts across the country and here in Massachusetts at the Moody School in Haverhill. Described by the company Aldebaron, the Nao is “a fully interactive, versatie, fun and continously evolving humanoid robot able to host educative, entertaining and daily-life assistance applications.” It is used to assist teachers working with students with autism.
The Moody School principal reports that “some students who barely react to people had a great reaction to the robot”.
Nao uses two bult in cameras and vocal recognition software to recognize faces and voices. It can even play catch by using “prehensile” fingers to grasp a ball. The Nao can dance “Gangnam Style”- just like South Korean pop singer PSY.
Costing $17,000, it is being tested in 40 schools across the country. For more information and to see Nao in action go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2STTNYNF4lk
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