(via youtube)
Korea is pushing robotics as the next big industry. Their "Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute" (ETRI) is helping in the cause. ETRI is donating the version 2 of their ETRI-Built Robot (ETRO) for use as a human-robot relation guide at the Daejon National Science Museum.
Version 1 of ETRO was a bot developed to read and read-out-load. It had stereo vision and ran off the Linux OS. It could identify objects, faces, letters, etc. It was an excellent piece of hardware. However, version 2 does away with a lot of these features, but gains others and a little heart.
Version 2 has a single camera built into the chest. The ETRO v2 has more advanced arms, able to express other gestures as it interacts with museum visitors. As people pass the ETRO, it will speak to them with some simple canned statements. A common phrase is "I love you." (Does ETRO know that over use of the phrase make it lose authenticity?) Some text-to-speech features were left. A image recognizing feature is built in, but its resolution to the former was not mentioned. Nor was ETRO v2's ability to read.
However, emotions are expressed through the use of an LED face. The eyes may turn into heart, if it likes you.
But ETRO, I thought I was the only one you loved?
Eavesdropper