Era of Social Robots

Social robots are envisioned to become an integral part of our social fabric as we embrace the coming "silver" society. Across continents, governments have foreseen the needs of an aging population and funded a number of leading groups in universities and research institutes to focus on the research and development of social robots for improving services, healthcare and productivity. In this talk, the speaker first presents a brief history of social robotics and the state-of-the-art in research and development. Then, he introduces three social robots developed at the Social Robotics Laboratory of the National University of Singapore, including Carine for interactive edutainment, Adam for hospitality service, and Nancy for human robot collaboration. To appreciate the advanced technologies in making social robots possible, he describes the core technological modules, or building blocks, including locomotion, intelligent control, visuo-auditory interaction and artificial skin. Deeper understanding and further advancements in the modules can help us to make social robots become more appealing, more engaging, and ultimately better companions. As a community, we are working hard to make social robots help our "silver" society become more vibrant, connected and productive. The speaker illustrates part of this big picture by presenting a few robots for different issues such as security, mobility, and productivity. He concludes his presentation by giving a few futuristic scenarios on how humans and social robots live, work and enjoy life together happily.