Jérôme and Aldebaran Robotics representatives discuss NAO’s research and education uses, developer program, pricing, and plans for future consumer and care applications with the Engadget Show hosts.
Jérôme describes NAO as a platform for research and education, with consumer use as a longer-term aim. The demo shows scripted abilities including listening, recognizing people and objects, and responding to prompts.
NAO says it can connect over Wi-Fi, recognize faces, answer questions, play music, handle objects, and play soccer. The representatives point to research in 30 countries and possible support for autistic children and older adults, such as reading papers or helping with phone calls. They also describe stories, games, and video calls as potential family entertainment.
Aldebaran says its developer program is meant to build a library of applications and behaviors around NAO, supported by an open SDK and the company’s R&D staff. The representative gives a price of about $13,000 for the research and education robot, compared with $4,000 for an individual developer kit, plus a gaming computer.
An Aldebaran representative says the company wants robots to improve human well-being and sees robotics as a major shift comparable to personal computers and mobile phones. Healthcare is one expected area of impact as populations age. The representative describes NAO’s combination of interaction, movement, and autonomy as a basis for applications including gaming and care.
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Masayoshi Son, CEO of SoftBank, presents Pepper with Aldebaran founder Bruno Maisonnier and Foxconn chairman Terry Gou, outlining their plans for an emotion-aware personal robot at a Tokyo press event.
R. Gelin of Aldebaran Robotics presents collaborative research projects with French, Asian, and European partners, showing work on NAO and Romeo in healthcare and personal assistance.
An Aldebaran Robotics presenter at LinuxTag 2012 in Berlin explains how the company built NAO, chose Linux and Gentoo for its software platform, and worked with developers to expand its applications.
