The World’s EXPO held in Shanghai, China, is another place where you can see glimpses of the future, including robotics evolution and developments in artificial intelligence. The robots exhibited have highly specialized and amazing individual skills. Farther down from the France building’s Paris Eiffel Tower exhibit, behind the thick glass walls obscured by hundreds of people wanting a closer look, were numerous humanoids living in the robot exhibit. Literally living - sitting, standing, stretching, moving, sleeping, turning, waving, making eye contact – some would sit a while, rest, get up and then interact with people.
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| Thousands of people waited in line seven hours to see the Japan building. The climbing robots are outside on the Japan EXPO building, climbing up and down all day. |
When I toured China, I suddenly found myself at the World's EXPO, pleasantly surprised by the robotics exhibitions.
NAO turned around to face the man, walked over and looked directly at him, eyes to eyes, and waved back! Coincidence or not, it made everyone a believer in its sophistication and life-like talents. These advanced robots can do more things, have more fluid motions and are more human and life-like than one might expect.
At the EXPO’s Japan building, outside on the tall rising skyscraper’s wall, three Japanese humanoid robots gripped the side of the building’s scaffolding structure and relentlessly, effortlessly, slowly climbed their way to the top and then down again. How they managed this skillful process all day, reliably, in about 130 degree sunlight was one of the most impressive displays of humanoid robots and reliable technology to behold. You could actually see their hands and feet reach for holding places and their faces turning, apparently looking around to find the best grip and foothold locations. They wore a kind of athletic jump suit and at first glance it made you wonder who was up there climbing the great wall!
That greeting was just an indication of more great things to come – inside the building was the stuff of the future.
The man beside me knew more about robots than I could imagine. He pounded on the window and frantically waved. At first, it seemed a little tongue-in-cheek to think that one of the NAO humanoids on display could respond, and in particular the one he was focused on... But surprisingly, he appeared to attract the attention of one (NAO is an advanced humanoid robot by Aldebaran, a French company).
NAO turned around to face the man, walked over and looked directly at him, eyes to eyes, and waved back! Coincidence or not, it made everyone a believer in its sophistication and life-like talents. These advanced robots can do more things, have more fluid motions and are more human and life-like than one might expect.At the EXPO’s Japan building, outside on the tall rising skyscraper’s wall, three Japanese humanoid robots gripped the side of the building’s scaffolding structure and relentlessly, effortlessly, slowly climbed their way to the top and then down again. How they managed this skillful process all day, reliably, in about 130 degree sunlight was one of the most impressive displays of humanoid robots and reliable technology to behold. You could actually see their hands and feet reach for holding places and their faces turning, apparently looking around to find the best grip and foothold locations. They wore a kind of athletic jump suit and at first glance it made you wonder who was up there climbing the great wall!
Walking past the three dimensional TV, things only seen in science fiction movies filled the room. If you could pull yourself away from the theater size screen where your hand motions manipulated windows and virtual reality, robots began to make their entrance. On the first stage, a robot moved over to greet you - not taking a single breath during an introductory speech in Mandarin Chinese.
On the theater stage, Toyota’s new personal robotic transport vehicle was impressively driven around. Another highlight was Toyota’s full size humanoid. It walked out onto stage right, raised a violin in hand and played a beautiful melody.
We live in an era with many specialized robots of 2020 – each robot has some particular skill, musical, social, or athletic, for example. It won’t be surprising in the next era to see
these specialties come together.
We live in an era with many specialized robots of 2020 – each robot has some particular skill, musical, social, or athletic, for example. It won’t be surprising in the next era to see
Seeing the EXPO, it wouldn’t take too much imagination to dream about humanoids walking down the streets of Shanghai, blending in with humans.
The Expo 2010 in Shanghai China was open from May 1 to October 31, 2010 and an estimated 70 million visitors attended.
The Expo 2010 in Shanghai China was open from May 1 to October 31, 2010 and an estimated 70 million visitors attended.
