Press Release – 14 June 2012
UAE’s Minister of State, Reem Al Hashemi, greeted her namesake at the UAE Pavilion in EXPO 2012 – a humanoid robot, also named ‘Reem’. Over the last few days, the robot has welcomed thousands of guests to the UAE Pavilion, which is being organised by the National Media Council.
In addition to greeting and guiding visitors, the robot has also been programmed to deliver presentations to a number of dignitaries who are visiting the UAE pavilion during National Day celebrations.
Commenting on its role at the Pavilion, Abdulla Al Aidarous, Deputy Commissioner and Director of the UAE Pavilion said, “We are delighted that this excellent robot has been able to entertain and inform our guests in the UAE Pavilion. The robot is a UAE innovation and we are very proud that it can entertain visitors and showcase our technological capabilities.”
‘Reem’ was developed by PAL Robotics (PAL Group), a Royal Group conglomerate company based in Abu Dhabi. 1.65m in height, with a mobile base that enables the robot to move at 5km/hour, the advanced capabilities include a motorised head with vision, face tracking and recognition functions. The robot contains sensors and a multimedia touchscreen that can offer information in various formats and languages, as well as the ability to speak to a helpdesk attendant via video conference.
Peter Abraam, Executive Director, Strategic Planning, Royal Group said: “We are delighted to be able to showcase this robot’s extensive capabilities at Expo 2012 in Yeosu. It has been designed to assist people in places such as shopping malls, hotels, hospitals, museums and exhibition centres. At the Expo, the robot has been greeting and interacting with thousands of delighted Expo guests in Korean, Arabic and English.”