#FUTURE, Kerala's first ever global digital summit, offers a platform for entrepreneurs, academicians and influencers in the IT sector to come together and discuss ideas, emerging trends and ground realities of the industry. What delegates and other attendees may not have expected to see was a robot serving tea!
Saya the robot was seen serving tea and playing host to people who were gathered at the summit. The service robot is one among the products of 11 startups from Maker Village, Kerala's flagship electronics incubator. It was developed by ASIMOV Robotics.
Saya can interact with humans and engage a friendly conversation. It expresses “happiness” with flashing bulbs if you touch it gently. Well, we certainly don't want an upset robot in our hands that's serving hot tea!
While Saya can serve hot beverages and food to customers, its makers say that it can also be of assistance in the banking and healthcare sectors. ASIMOV Robotics plans to make use of the robot by programming it to provide help to bedridden patients. It just needs to programmed and given behavioural training as per the individual needs of the client.
Last year, an interactive humanoid developed in partnership with ASIMOV Robotics was deployed at HDFC Bank's Kamala Mills branch in Mumbai. The Intelligent Robotic Assistant (IRA) was used for interacting with customers, providing information on services and guiding them to the respective counters as per their needs.