ETRO
In 2003, Korea’s Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute, or ETRI, designed and launched a reading robot. It was called ETRI-built robot, or ETRO, and was by far one of the greatest products of robotics advancement.
ETRO is able to read bedtime stories, although the words are said in rapid bursts that still lack the tone of human emotions. Nonetheless, it is still a great social robot that can be used in classrooms and other venues where social interaction needs some sort of intense motivation and inspiration.
ETRO, powered by LINUX operating system, has sight reliant on computer systems and stereoscopic cameras. The vision of this interactive social and learning robot is able to recognize human faces, letters, and other objects in front of it. It is also capable of voice recognition, allowing it to follow simple instructions.
ETRO can retrieve information about traffic, weather updates, and other relevant information it may find over an available Internet connection. Any books, documents, or texts that are pasted in front of it will be read aloud with the use of the integrated text-to-speech synthesizer.
Features:
Electric and Telecom Research Inst. (ETRI)
