Pepper, the latest member to join the GWS Robotics team, is set to make [what is believed to be] his first public appearance in Bristol at the Being There Showcase at the Watershed tomorrow (Tuesday, September 13).

GWS Robotics, spun out of design and digital marketing company GWS Media, will customise Pepper, created by SoftBank Robotics, so it is suitable for individual companies. David, a Cambridge University graduate who has worked as a computer programmer for nearly two decades, said: “It’s a very interesting challenge developing an application for a robot like Pepper that can interact and talk with you.”

GWS Robotics’ Creative Director David Graves said: “We are delighted to be part of such an exciting and innovative event. We look forward to introducing Pepper to the wider public, who will have the chance to talk to him and watch how he responds.”

Pepper, the latest member to join the GWS Robotics team, is set to make [what is believed to be] his first public appearance in Bristol at the Being There Showcase at the Watershed tomorrow (Tuesday, September 13).

GWS Robotics, spun out of design and digital marketing company GWS Media, will customise Pepper, created by SoftBank Robotics, so it is suitable for individual companies. David, a Cambridge University graduate who has worked as a computer programmer for nearly two decades, said: “It’s a very interesting challenge developing an application for a robot like Pepper that can interact and talk with you.”

GWS Robotics’ Creative Director David Graves said: “We are delighted to be part of such an exciting and innovative event. We look forward to introducing Pepper to the wider public, who will have the chance to talk to him and watch how he responds.”

Four-year collaborative project

Being There is a four-year project funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), which brought together five collaborative teams of researchers from the Universities of Exeter, Bath, Oxford, Cambridge (formerly at Queen Mary University of London) and the Bristol Robotics Laboratory (BRL).

The team has been working in collaboration with Watershed and a diverse range of creative practitioners to produce original work using state-of-the-art technologies and to explore current themes in robotics and public space. 

Dr Paul Bremner and Peter Gibbons from BRL have investigated Laboratory Teleoperated Robots – looking at the potential of being able to appear in avatar form.

Dr Bremner said: “Controlled remotely, a teleoperator will be able to see through the robot's eyes and speak through its mouth while directing where it looks and how it moves. The aim is for the robot to be an avatar for a remote person who would be able to take part in the same activities as those actually present at an event, lifting the barriers to participation that exist for a number of groups including the ill, disabled and those living in remote areas.”

Listen, learn, and dance!

Watershed's Creative Director, Clare Reddington, and Being There project lead Professor Mark Levine (University of Exeter), will open the showcase together with celebrated British designer Sebastian Conran, who will give the keynote speech.

The all-day event will feature presentations from the Being There robotics researchers and quick-fire sharing sessions with the project leads - spanning technology, engineering, psychology, and security.

Visitors have a chance to play with some commissioned robot games and dance with ‘robot-lets.’

The showcase will end with a Robot Cabaret, hosted by Bill Thompson of BBC Click.

This is a guest post kindly written by Angela Belassie from Pr The Write Way.

robotics, watershed, bristol, pepper, nao,