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20:00-20:40 – Lecture: (in English) Alessandro Griffini: How to make your web-tv
20:40-21:35 – Screening: I, Android-Age of Robots, 52′, Audio:EN/IT Subs:GR – Kepach Production

The father of modem robotics is William Grey Walter, who built a pair of three -wheeled robots in 1948: similar to tortoises, they were able to sense their battery was running dry and they could return to their charging station. Creating the perfect android, the exact artificial copy of a human being is the recurring dream of roboticists, but a lot still needs to be done. While we can build a convincing anthropomorphic robot, its realistic appearance creates the expectation that its behavior will also be human -like. But that requires a sophisticated grade of artificial intelligence, something that we can’t quite grasp yet. And another intriguing problem looms on the horizon: the Uncanny Valley, the sense of repulsion that we instinctively get as an android become more and more human -like in appearance, as postulated by Japanese roboticists Masahiro Mori in the 1970s. Nevertheless, wonderful examples of android have been successfully created throughout Europe. From the IIT in Genoa, Italy, comes iCub, an android that simulates the looks and the behavior of a three year old child. All the while looking and acting so cute as to be irresistible.
5΄ Break
21:40-22:40 – The secret life of materials, 60′, Audio:EN Subs:GR – Metfilm Production

5΄ Break
22:45-23:40 Entertainment robots-Age of robots, 52′, Audio:EN/IT Subs:GR – Kepach Production

In Cornwall we meet Robothespian, an android developed to interact with a large number of people in public areas such as shopping malls or museums. Its software is web based and can be quickly adapted to different environments. Robotics turned to fun can also be useful for research purposes: take NAO, a small robot that starts in a real soccer tournament, the RoboCup. Its behaviour can be used to fine tune artificial intelligence taking cues from a real world environment that is very familiar to everyone. From France comes Reeti, a small “table robot” connected to Windows PC that can help a teacher make their class more enthralling, or turn a boring reception desk into a fun experience. Finally, from Zurich’s ETH comes ReZero, a BallBot class robot that moves over a single sphere, with unparalleled speed and elegance.
Looking at these robots one can’t help but think that one day, in the not so distant future, they will become a common fixture of our cities. But robotics has much more to offer to urban development, as we’ll find out in our next episode.
• Organized by Caid Center