ALL SCI-FI

[Bud Brewster]

_______________________________________

This is NAO, the most amazing robo-midget on the planet.



He has features that were pure science fiction ten years ago.



He looks like a toy, but he's much more than that.



Play the video below and watch NAO walk down a hall, get knocked down . . . and get up, all by himself!



"I want this damn thing so bad I'd take out a third mortgage to raise the money — which, by the way, is just under $8,000."

______________

Watch this next video to see NAO stand up from a prone position and walk around better than I do these days! Then he makes a valiant effort to pick up a cardboard coffee cup, not quite get it right, and . . . hang his head while shaking it, because he knew he'd screwed up.

______________

And that last part amazed me as much as anything else he did, because of the A.I. implications . . . .


_________________
____________
Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Robert (Butch) Day]

Just THINK! We can almost make a real TOBOR or Robby!
_________________
Common Sense ISN'T Common

[Bud Brewster]

__________________________________

[orzel-w]

Now that is amazing.
_________________
...or not...

WayneO
-----------

[Bud Brewster]

__________________________________

More dazzling demos of NAO (pronounced "na'o" with a short A and a long O.)

The demonstration at the link below shows off NAO pretty well — despite the lackluster personality of the women giving it. She makes NAO look more human by comparison.

This video contains a brief segment in which NAO offers to "tell a story". Remember that wonderful scene in Return of the Jedi when C3PO tells the story of A New Hope to the Ewoks, complete with hand gestures and sound effects?

Go to the 5:30 mark and listen to NAO's version. I love it!



And in the second demonstration at the link below, NAO speaks Italian, German, and Chinese. But Equally impressive are his spontaneous acts of humor. The lady in the demo hands him a cube to demonstrate his dexterity, and after a few seconds NAO tosses it over his shoulder and cracks up laughing!



I made the poster for NAO at the top of this post with Paint.net by combining the body parts I liked best (head from one, limbs from the other) using several screen grabs like the one below. It was fun.

I wish the pictures were sharper, but these screen grabs are just taken from a YouTube video which was shot on some guys phone, so they aren't that clear.



This next video, thankfully, is much sharper. Bruno Maisonnier (the CEO of Aldebaran Robotic) chats for eight minutes about the lastest version of NAO. You'll love the part where NAO asks if he can show Bruno something, and Bruno says, "No, keep quiet."

NAO's eyes turn red and he pitches a tantrum!

After a few seconds of this, Bruno says, "I want him to stop making noise during my speech!"

And he puts a small clothes bag over NAO's head, to which the robot replies. "Would someone please switch on the lights?". Then NAO pulls the bag off himself and says, "I'm sorry. I'll be quiet now."

Amazing!



And if you're still not in love with NAO after these videos, watch this next one. It actually allows you make choices at several points, and your selection determines which way the story goes. It's a mini-movie with you and NAO spending New Years Eve together.

You'll love the part where NAO gets a call from R2D2, who stuns his friend with unexpected news about the Skywalker family tree.

Funny stuff!

"Hello, R2! It's been a long time. What are you doing, Buddy?"



"What! Vader is his father?! And Leia is his sister?"



* Click on the picture to watch the video.

I want one of this little guys so badly I'd sell my comic book collection to get the money!
_________________
____________
Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Brent Gair]

Not for me!

It reminds me of the joke told by Seth Myers...

"Roomba has developed a robot that remembers the position of furniture and walls...so next time you hear a bump in the night, don't worry, it's just a robot making a map of your house".