BIOS: Technology Means Business

NEC has announced the development of technology for installing computer graphics (CG) agents into various electronic devices, facilitating interaction between robots and CG agents.

The successful development of this software has been achieved through expansion of the range of objects that can be controlled with NEC’s robot control software, RoboStudio, to include on-screen CG characters on PCs and PDAs.

PaPeRo, the robot developed by NEC’s Personal Robot Research Center, today introduced his virtual friend, PaPeRo CG (computer graphics). Bless!

Users can interact with the avatar via a PC or PDA. He will interact with the user in the same way the physical robot does. PaPeRo CG apparently has an extensive vocabulary, can respond to instructions and recognise multiple human faces, and, like his physical friend, dance! Communications between the user and the physical and avatar PaPeRos can be interchanged and downloaded.

This research result was achieved through the following: control of on-screen CG characters with NEC’s robot software platform RoboStudio; operation of RoboStudio programs (scenarios) describing the robot's movements on PCs/PDAs; exchange of acquired information in different devices via a wireless network or server.

The new technology enables robots to interact with various electronic devices. For example, a user could talk to its robot at home and then hand the robot’s memory over to a corresponding CG character in a car navigation system, on the office laptop computer or a PDA when the user leaves home.

In the future, when various devices can simultaneously interact between users and agents among different devices, users will be able to empower agents, which understand each user’s preferences and interests, to operate their devices. Users will no longer have to be skilled in the operation of numerous and varied electronic devices.

This research development will enable NEC to deploy its own robot user interface technology in various electronic devices other than robots. Furthermore, it facilitates a diverse range of natural dialogue and communication with humans, achieved through many years of accumulated research and development on NEC’s Partner Personal Robot, PaPeRo.

Recently, electronic devices have become increasingly sophisticated and multifunctional, resulting in difficulty of and confusion regarding use. Moreover, it is anticipated that electronic devices will become even more sophisticated and multifunctional in the future.

However, as difficulty of use hinders the number and range of prospective users, a user-friendly and intuitive interface has been long sought after to allow everyone in society, from the elderly to the very young, to avail of and enjoy new devices and technology.

Through this new research, NEC has deployed a fun, user-friendly interface, which it has cultivated through years of research and development on PaPeRo, in various electronic devices. By linking these, NEC strives to create a seamless user interface that accommodates the user's own preferences, interests, and level of proficiency, no matter which device is being used, in order to provide a unified response.

In the future, by applying this research development and integrating user information acquired by various electronic devices, NEC will undertake further research and development aimed at creating more intelligent interfaces. It plans to apply this technology to a wider range of devices such as car navigation systems, cell phones, and intelligent home appliances.

Furthermore, NEC plans to install this technology in the RoboStudio robot software platform offered by NEC System Technologies (RoboStudio robot software platform is only sold in Japan) when requested by customers.