With her soft skin and flowing brunette hair, Nadine does not only meet and greet visitors, smile, make eye contact and shake hands, but she can even recognise past guests and spark up conversation based on previous chats.

 

Unlike conventional robots, Nadine has her own personality, mood and emotions. She can be happy or sad, depending on the topic.

 

Powered by intelligent software similar to Apple's Siri or Microsoft's Cortana, she is the brainchild of scientists at the Nanyang Technological¹ University in Singapore and is based on her creator Prof Nadia Thalmann.

 

Prof Thalmann, the director of the Institute for Media Innovation who led the development of said robots such as Nadine are poised² to become more visible in offices and homes in future.

 

"Robotics technologies have advanced significantly over the past few decades and are already being used in manufacturing and logistics," she said.

 

'As countries worldwide face challenges of an aging population, social robots can be one solution to address the shrinking workforce³, become personal companions for children and the elderly at home, and even serve as a platform for healthcare services in future.

 

"Over the past four years, our team at NTU have been fostering cross-disciplinary research in social robotics technologies -- involving engineering, computer science, linguistics⁴, psychology⁵ and other fields -- to transform a virtual human, from within a computer, into a physical being that is able to observe and interact with other humans."

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