LOS ANGELES: A university in Singapore is focusing on humanoids to help care for dementia patients.
Humanoid Nadine is both modeled and named after creator Nadia Thalmann, a computer graphics scientist who simultaneously serves as a Visiting Professor and Director of Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University’s Institute of Media Innovation, as well as the founder and head of the University of Geneva’s MIRALab Research Laboratory. Oh, and she holds degrees in Biology, Psychology, and Biochemistry in addition to her Quantum Physics PhD. She definitely sounds like the sort of person who could use a robotic clone of herself, but also the sort that doesn’t need one.
A pioneer of Virtual Human 3D simulation, Thalmann has devoted the last three decades to researching both virtual humans and social robots. “Robotics technologies have advanced significantly over the past few decades and are already being used in manufacturing and logistics,” says the professor. “As countries worldwide face challenges of an aging population, social robots can be one solution to address the shrinking workforce, become personal companions for children and the elderly at home, and even serve as a platform for healthcare services in future.”