Born as a result of the collaboration between Syntheligence, a French start-up specializing in social robotics, and Mediavea, v-John may well represent the future of humanoid robots. Indeed, this android with a friendly face differs from its counterparts thanks to its mastery of non-verbal communicative skills. In fact, the latter accounts for 70% of our day to day communication.
The two French companies therefore hope that v-John will break the barriers of human-robots communication, which are mainly due to the total absence of emotions in machines. Thus, the plastic head of this new generation robot is equipped with sensors that allow it to see and adapt to the person in front. v John is able to laugh, cry and even blush.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5MExoO62mg[/youtube]
The intention behind the development of this technology is to improve current marketing techniques at the point of sale.” Already tested in a laboratory setting, v-John is now ready to be deployed in the field where it can be optimized for different sales activities for our clients and partners. We hope stores will use these robots for increased sales through better visibility of products on display”. Says Alain Goudey of Mediavea .
Frédéric Delaunay and William of Herbemont, the two co-founders of Syntheligence agree that their communicative android can serve sectors, such as hotelling, ticketing or health. Indeed, v-John could also prove invaluable to the process of cognitive rehabilitation for people with Alzheimer’s disease or those who have suffered a head injury. Finally, note that if you prefer girls, the female version of John v, v-Mary, will be launched soon …
v John has very encouraging technological characteristics. We found it crazy that a robot can adapt to the person in front and interact with him just like a human. Besides, it’s a little scary! Do you think we should continue to invest in the development of ultra-sophisticated robots or their increasingly impressive advances can harm humanity?