Bruno Maisonnier
John Filippelli : What inspired the NAO robot and Next Gen NAO?
Bruno Maisonnier : The humanoid shape and curved design are key factors of the design and allow users to interact with the machine. Cartoons and kids have been source of inspiration for NAO – we wanted to create a cute robot with whom you immediately want to interact.
John Filippelli : What upgrades/additions are included with the NAO Next Gen robot compared to the original NAO? Were these the only changes considered? Why or why not?
Bruno Maisonnier : One of the NAO Next Gen's novel and most remarkable features is the fact that it is fitted with a new on-board computer, based on the powerful 1.6-GHz Intel Atom processor, which is suitable for multitasking calculations. It also has two HD cameras that are attached to a field-programmable gate array (FPGA). This set-up allows the simultaneous reception of two video streams, significantly increasing speed and performance in face-and-object recognition, even under poor lighting conditions. As well as its innovative features with respect to hardware, NAO Next Gen boasts a new, faster and more reliable vocal-recognition program called Nuance. This program is coupled with a new functionality known as “word spotting,‟ which is capable of isolating and recognizing a specific word within a sentence or a conversation.
John Filippelli : I understand that the goal is to have a NAO intended for individuals as opposed to only researchers and developers — what would that world look like?
Bruno Maisonnier : The Aldebaran's vision is to create robot for the developement and well being of humankind. In this way, we do all our research and development turned toward this objective. Dialogue, for example, is a very important step for interacting naturally with NAO. Howver, the world of tomorrow will not be as described by science fiction movies with scary robots killing humans. From the begining of humanity, the technology gap has been an anxious moment for people. But all the time, the help, and improvement that is given to us through technology is definitively adopted by society. We imagine that will be the same with robots. The help that will give us will be certainly accepted. Imagine for example the possibility for elderly or handicapped people to be more autonomous and independent at home with their robots. So, the world of tomorrow with robots would not be so dark as some people want to believe.
John Filippelli : Can we expect other members of the NAO “family” as well? Why or why not?
Bruno Maisonnier : We are working on a taller robot (120 cm), Romeo, to provide it to labs to act as a personal assistant.
John Filippelli : What steps would you recommend to others to become an Industry Innovator in engineering?
Bruno Maisonnier : Don't stop dreaming, believe in your innovation, and strive to improve humanity.
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