14-Jan-2020: ‘Virtual human’ NEONs
The first project of Samsung’s Star Labs, NEONs are being called the world’s first artificial humans. They look and behave like real humans, and could one day develop memories and emotions — though from behind a 4K display. It won’t be wrong to call them life-size human avatars, or maybe a human interface for whatever you want to do with technology.
Star Labs is headed by India-born scientist Pranav Mistry who underlines that what was showcased at CES was the product of just four months’ work. Mistry, who is president and CEO of Star Labs, was earlier behind a lot of products released by Samsung, including the Galaxy Gear smartwatches. Star Labs is Samsung Technology & Advanced Research Labs, an independent project funded by the Korean tech giant.
The company says NEONs are computationally created virtual humans — the word derives from NEO (new) + humaN. For now the virtual humans can show emotions when manually controlled by their creators. But the idea is for NEONs to become intelligent enough to be fully autonomous, showing emotions, learning skills, creating memories, and being intelligent on their own. Star Labs thinks they can be “friends, collaborators, and companions”, but all that is a few years away. At CES, the idea was to showcase the concept to the world.
Mistry started work on NEONs by trying to replicate a friend. Initially, the models were trained on his face, and there were significant errors. But then, they started getting better, almost indistinguishable from the original.
Mistry says there are two core technologies behind his virtual humans. First, there is the proprietary CORE R3 technology that drives the “reality, real time and responsiveness” behind NEONs. The company claims CORE R3 “leapfrogs in the domains of Behavioral Neural Networks, Evolutionary Generative Intelligence and Computational Reality”, and is “extensively trained” on how humans look, behave and interact.
But in the end, it is like a rendition engine, converting the mathematical models to look like actual humans. At the moment the latency for response is less than a few milliseconds. CORE R3 can also connect to other domain-specific and value-added services like language kits.
The next stage will be SPECTRA, which will complement CORE R3 with the “spectrum of intelligence, learning, emotions and memory”. But SPECTRA is still in development, and is not expected before NEONWORLD 2020 later this year.
CORE R3 is the front-end reality engine that is able to give you that real expression. The spectrum of emotions and knowledge will come only when the NEONs are “actually in the field”; Mistry says this is the layer SPECTRA will enable. Mistry thinks with initial focus on B2B scenarios, he will get more time to work on tech that helps solve for complex memory.
Mistry sees a world in which NEONs are the interface for technologies and services. They will answer your queries at a bank, welcome you at a restaurant, or read out the breaking news on television at an unearthly hour. Mistry says this form of virtual assistance would be more effective, for example, while teaching languages, as NEONs will be capable of understanding and sympathising.
However, Mistry is clear that a physical form for his NEONs is not possible in the near future. “I don’t think that we are anywhere close to having the physical embodiment of the NEONs in the next 25 or 30 years.” Also, he does not want to enable NEONs on existing robots — but would not mind collaborating with companies like Google, Facebook, and Baidu that have done work in similar fields.
Virtual Assistants now learn from all the data they are plugged into. NEONs will be limited to what they know and learn. Their leaning could potentially be limited to the person they are catering to, and maybe her friends — but not the entire Internet. They will not be an interface for you to request a song, rather they will be a friend to speak to and share experiences with, says Star Labs.
Unlike deep fakes, Star Labs says, CORE R3 does not manipulate any scene, videos, or sequence, and instead creates unique behaviours and interactions in real time. “CORE R3 creates new realities.
Mistry does not want his NEONs to have collective memory, or to share data among themselves. So what is known to one NEON cannot be useful for another. “My network is a small network that can live independently,” Mistry said, underlining the difference between his plan and what has been seen so far among other Internet-based companies. Also, Star Labs says “no one except you and your NEON can ever have access to your interactions”, and that private data will never be shared without your permission.
Star Labs is talking of launching a beta later this year, and claims it is flooded with queries from potential partners. You could find NEONs trying to chat you up on airport screens or bank lobbies soon. Mistry says he does not envision a physical for his NEONs, and anyway that technology is not in the realm of the possible in his lifetime.
28-Aug-2019: FEDOR the robot
The humanoid robot Fedor, the first from Russia sent into orbit, reached the International Space Station. Final Experimental Demonstration Object Research(FEDOR) can be operated manually by ISS astronauts wearing robotic exoskeleton suits. The robot mirrors their movements.
Fedor stands 180 cm tall and weighs 160 kg. It copies human movements, which will enable it to perform tasks that are risky for astronauts strapped onto an exoskeleton.
Fedor has his own Instagram and Twitter accounts. He was sent in an unmanned Soyuz capsule. Fedor, who will copy human movements, will help with high-risk tasks at the ISS until September 7, when he is scheduled to return. Fedor could help in tests on Russia’s new manned transport ship under development, the Federatsiya, or a spacewalk to work on the outside of the ISS.
While Fedor is Russia’s first robot in space, other countries have previously sent theirs. In 2011, NASA sent up Robonaut 2, a humanoid developed with General Motors that had a similar aim of working in high-risk environments. Robonaut 2 was flown back to Earth in 2018 after experiencing technical problems. In 2013, Japan sent up a small robot called Kirobo, developed with Toyota. It was able to hold conversations in Japanese.
Soyuz capsules are normally manned, but this time no humans were travelling in order to test a new emergency rescue system. The spacecraft blasted off last Thursday from a Russian spaceport in southern Kazakhstan, with Fedor in the commander’s seat. The robot was heard saying “Let’s go. Let’s go,” during the launch, repeating the phrase used by the first man in space, Yuri Gagarin.
The ship was carrying scientific and medical equipment, and components for the space station’s life-support system, as well as food, medicines and personal hygiene products for crew members.
12-Nov-2017: Cobots gathering momentum
Small, collaborative robots, or Cobots, are gaining currency across the world, as also in India. Several firms have benefited from the adoption of Cobots and are planning to add more to their shop floors.
Cobots are intended to work hand-in-hand with humans in a shared workspace. This is in contrast with full-fledged robots that are designed to operate autonomously or with limited guidance. They support and relieve the human operator of his excess work.
In an auto factory, while the Cobot tightens the bolts, the human worker places the tools in front of the Cobot. In a biscuit factory, the Cobot would package the biscuits while the worker segregates burnt ones not fit for consumption. In a small-scale industry, the Cobot is placed on the drilling job while the worker performs a quality check.
Universal Robots of Denmark was the first to develop Cobots commercially, and the first units were sold in 2008. Collaborative robots are ‘completely’ different from traditional robots. Cobots are easy to use, flexible and safe. Unlike industrial robots, Cobots don’t need fencing for the protection of workers in the shop floor.
The automotive sector is a large adopter of Cobots. The global electronics industry is also an adopter. Industry watchers felt that manufacturing cannot be competitive without the extensive use of industrial robots.
Intelligent use of robots
This meant, he said, that the relevant question was not whether the deployment of robots is advisable, or whether robots will help or hurt the effort to ‘Make in India’. “The question should be: how can we best create a modern, robot-using manufacturing ecosystem in India?
“If we continue to be just importers and end-users, and not designers, developers and builders of robots, then robot deployment will be disastrous for the economy, since we will lose many old-industry jobs, and the new, advanced technology jobs will be created elsewhere.”
“That is why, instead of engaging in sterile debates about the advisability of high technology, we must move to develop capabilities in advanced areas such as robotics, artificial intelligence, machine learning and automation,” .
Globally, 110,000 robots worth about $40 billion were shipped last year. The collaborative robot market is about $1 billion-$4 billion.
Universal Robots, which has 50-60% market share in Cobots globally, has so far sold 18,500 units, including more than 300 in India.
Adding a Cobot did not add to the maintenance technician’s load, since it is relatively maintenance free. It is estimated that a little less than 40,000 Cobots have been deployed all over the world. Big names that have entered into this field include Epson and ABB. There are about 30-40 players in this market.
The adoption has been low in India compared with China and the developed world. For every Cobot sold in India, 30 are sold in China.
Bolstering productivity
With the deployment of Cobots, almost 80% of downtime gets eliminated, as per estimates. In other words, productivity gains are significant.
Some SMEs now prefer to place a Cobot in key functions and use human labour to feed in information and get the basic work done.
The first Cobot arrived in India in 2011 when Bajaj Auto decided to deploy one at its shop floor. Next year the auto firm bought 23 units; it now has a total of 150 Cobots. Mahindra & Mahindra has recently bought its first few Cobots, it is learnt.
Cobots are simple to use, he said. One could programme a Cobot in 40 minutes. For this, you don’t need to have a technical background. Safety is an important aspect of collaborative work and Cobots score high there. They are flexible and can be used just as a tool. In other words, use of Cobots helps avoid overplaying the role of a robot which tends to dominate the workflow, relegating human contribution to the background.
A Cobot costs ₹14 lakh-₹22 lakh. Typically, in India, the payback period is 1-2 years. Several governments around the world are encouraging automation to spur economic growth. China, for example, is offering subsidies to make Cobots affordable. Several universities are spending significantly on research and development to facilitate human-robot collaboration in next generation manufacturing.