Robots to walk the catwalk at London Fashion Week
The Ohmni robot developed by Silicon Valley’s OhmniLabs will walk the catwalk for the first time at London Fashion Week in partnership with House of icons and Los Angeles-based designer, Honee.
The robot will take to the catwalk wearing a one-of-a-kind creations from Honee during London Fashion Week this September as part of the House of iKons event, which is focused on launching emerging and innovative designers.
The aim of the collaboration is to “marry fashion, culture and technology into one harmonious balance”, and while Honee is keeping her design under wraps until the big event, she did share in a press statement that her vision is for people to see Ohmni and robots as a part of their everyday lives with a focus on the present rather than the future, with a play on the word “telepresence”.
Honee said in a press release: “My show this September is named ‘ÁI’, in reference to Artificial Intelligence and also the play on the Vietnamese word ÁI for love and the Chinese phonetic AI for love as well. We’re in the world of AI and loving it.
“I use fashion as the language to express the skins we are in. In my upcoming show, it’s not about the future of robots, of a world unknown, but of the presence, the Now. And OhmniLabs is ushering in the world of Now with their telepresence robots. I’m honoured and super excited to be a part of the OhmniLabs journey.”
Robot teachers invade Chinese kindergartens
BEIJING (AFP) –
The Chinese kindergarten children giggled as they worked to solve puzzles assigned by their new teaching assistant: a roundish, short educator with a screen for a face.
Just under 60 centimetres (two feet) high, the autonomous robot named Keeko has been a hit in several kindergartens, telling stories and challenging children with logic problems.
Round and white with a tubby body, the armless robot zips around on tiny wheels, its inbuilt cameras doubling up both as navigational sensors and a front-facing camera allowing users to record video journals.
In China, robots are being developed to deliver groceries, provide companionship to the elderly, dispense legal advice and now, as Keeko’s creators hope, join the ranks of educators.
At the Yiswind Institute of Multicultural Education on the outskirts of Beijing, the children have been tasked to help a prince find his way through a desert — by putting together square mats that represent a path taken by the robot — part storytelling and part problem-solving.
Each time they get an answer right, the device reacts with delight, its face flashing heart-shaped eyes.
“Education today is no longer a one-way street, where the teacher teaches and students just learn,” said Candy Xiong, a teacher trained in early childhood education who now works with Keeko Robot Xiamen Technology as a trainer.