Meet the robots that will guide your way at Expo 2020

At Expo 2020 Dubai it’s not too much to expect a robot to show you around. Or to check your temperature. Or to make you coffee. When the Greatest Show on Earth kicks off in October, it will be deploying a range of futuristic machines to make your Expo experience that much more special. Here’s a look at the robots you may meet at the world fair.

MEET THE MASCOT OPTI: Created by AI service provider, Terminus Group, Opti is an orange-colored robot of many talents. He can greet visitors, entertain with dance moves and even tell you a couple of jokes. As the mascot of the Expo, he is considered to be the guardian of the Opportunity District. Opti may only be a metre tall, but don’t be fooled by his compact size – he’s got a whole lot of personality.

DOCTOR ROBOT: Apart from its massive Falcon 9 rocket ship replica and other American inventions, the US pavilion will showcase cutting-edge tech in the form of robot surgeons.

PATROL BOT: Patrol robots will serve to protect and monitor the Expo site. Equipped with a HD facial recognition camera, real-time thermo camera and SOS button, these robot will be on 24-hour duty to remind visitors of safe practices such as social distancing. The high-performance mobile platform can also use voice recognition to respond to your questions, conduct 24/7 surveillance and deliver emergency announcements.

ATTENDANT BOT: The metallic tour guides of Expo 2020, also known as the attendant robots, will show you the way to your designated destination. The robot will be fully equipped with multi-modal interaction including voice interaction with natural language processing, facial detection, facial recognition and multi-touch graphical user interface. They have the ability to display images, text, audio and video for visitors to access and receive necessary information.

DELIVERY BOT: These machines will be dispatched to carry goods and other kinds of materials around the site. The robots are designed to be intelligent mobile containers that carry out task-based deployment. They have an automatic weight detection system and return to re-stock as well as re-charge. This model can also use voice recognition to respond to your questions.

THE VENDING TROLLY: Vending trolleys are a kind of delivery robot that can be converted to perform different roles. They can be fitted with racks to carry visitor guides, reading materials or maps. Apart from that, they can also carry a poster frame, baskets, and catering trays. These delivery robots are completely autonomous with no human interference.

MEET BARISTA YANU: At Estonia’s pavilion, you can sip on coffee that is served by a robotic arm called Yanu. The barista is powered by AI and knows how to prepare drinks. And it knows how to entertain – thanks to a bank of jokes it can tell.