UAE – The Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Company (ADNEC) is beginning trials of a visitor assistant robot at this year’s Defence Exhibition and Conference, Idex 2011, now underway at the ADNEC centre.
The robot information assistant and stand guide is still a pilot project, but ADNEC hopes it will improve its credentials as an innovator within the global live events industry.
It will serve, among other duties, guidance - taking people to predefined locations; information via a touchscreen interface; and digital advertisement.
In addition to greeting and guiding visitors, REEM has also been programmed to provide a personalised greeting to a number of VIPs who will be visiting the 10th anniversary of the Idex event.
ADNEC believes it is the first exhibition and live events venue to trial such an initiative.
REEM is a prototype produced by Abu Dhabi-based PAL Robotics (PAL Group). 1.65m in height, with a mobile base that enables the robot to move at 5km/hour, the advanced capabilities of REEM 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, as well as the ability to speak to a helpdesk attendant via video conference.
According to ADNEC, the 2011 editions of Idex and its sister event Navdex won the support of more than 200 defence companies from the Arab nations.
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