Nadine, the Social Robot That Remembers You

Meet Nadine, a social robot designed by Professor Nadia Thalmann of Nanyang Technological University.

This robot, made to look somewhat like her creator, has her own personality. She can greet you, wave her hands, answer questions, and even remember your name and details from previous conversations.

But what’s really interesting about Nadine is that she’s also designed to react emotionally depending on what you say to her.

Here’s another video of Nadine in action:

“Now I can try to say bad things to her,” Prof. Thalmann says in the video. This is, coincidentally, the very same statement future scientists will make while speaking with the first truly sentient AI, right before the robot apocalypse begins. Let’s call it foreshadowing.

According to the official press release, Nadine is “powered by intelligent software similar to Apple’s Siri or Microsoft’s Cortana,” and could potentially see implementation as a personal assistant in offices or even as a companion to “the young and elderly.”

Check out the full press release for more, including information about the other robot you see in the first video, named EDGAR. They call it a telepresence robot, which can “project the gestures” and face of its user in real time. A kind of robot surrogate, I suppose.