Octavia is part of a research project at the U.S. Navy’s recently formed Laboratory for Autonomous Systems Research (LASR). The bot borrows certain technologies from an earlier MIT project dubbed Nexi, including its…uh…somewhat disturbing face (anybody else think it looks similar to this?).
The fire-fighting bot will respond to a series of voice commands and gesture inputs, which it then translates so it can set off on its fire-fighting mission.
The video below shows the creepy-faced robot in action:
Although the robot is still in development, we can’t help but think that, in a real-world sceanario, the current bot move a little too slowly, and might not be able to respond appropriately to a panicked human. However, as the video suggests, the researchers hope that Octavia will eventually be able to move “shoulder-to-shoulder” with humans.
[via The Verge]
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