[Foreign Press Briefing] A robot scans barcodes at a supermarket and even acquires citizenship.

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[Foreign Press Briefing] A robot scans barcodes at a supermarket and even acquires citizenship.

Published2017.10.30 15:47

*Speech scene of the humanoid robot 'Sophia'

Humanoid robot with civil rights
The humanoid robot "Sophia" has been recognized as a citizen of Saudi Arabia. Currently, she has no legs and cannot move her body. However, the CEO of Singularity NET announced plans to design prosthetic arms and legs for Sophia. This means Sophia will be able to walk, act, and speak. She will also be able to express emotions using blockchain technology. At a press conference, when reporters asked her, "Do you have any negative intentions toward your owners (humans)?" and "Do you want to prevent the worst-case scenario (where robots dominate humans in the future)?", she replied, "You've seen too many Hollywood movies. Don't worry, just think of it as a smart input/output system."

A Business Insider reporter said she might not be able to say she "knows what love is," but she'll soon be able to say and do it persuasively. New Atlas pointed out that in Saudi Arabia, where women are legally required to be accompanied by a male guardian in public and wear the hijab, granting citizenship to a robot that does not wear a hijab effectively grants Sophia more freedom of citizenship than Saudi Arabian women.

Walmart has robots scanning its shelves.

A robot patrols the store while employees serve customers (Photo credit: Walmart YouTube promotional video)

Walmart announced the introduction of a robot that scans inventory, prices, and sorts misplaced items. Built by California-based BossaNova Robotics, the robot can extend up to 60 centimeters and is equipped with lights and sensors for shelf scanning. For example, when an employee assigns the robot a task, it will inspect a specific aisle to determine if it needs restocking. When not instructed, the robot will remain in its charging station. The goal is for employees to focus on customer service, while the robot handles repetitive tasks. Walmart told The Verge it plans to use the data collected from the robots to “improve the efficiency of our stores nationwide.”

Analyze indoor air and bring in plants

(Photo source: Plant Life Balance website)

A smartphone photo of a room allows users to input the number and size of plants. An application has been released that uses augmented reality to match plants. Considering factors such as plant size and pot design, it appears to be notably similar to IKEA's furniture matching app.

Plant Life Balance, developed by an Australian horticultural company, calculates indoor air quality before adding new plants and provides guidance on their potential as air purifiers. The app's developers say they compiled the plant index by reviewing over a hundred scientific articles via New Atlas. It analyzes each plant's volatile organic compounds, dust, pollen, soot, and smoke. It even considers leaf area, plant size, and the impact of different combinations of large and small plants on a space. The app is available for free download worldwide.

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