Rashmi, India's first humanoid robot, can speak Hindi, Bhojpuri, Marathi!
Taking a leaf out of Sophia's (popular human-like robot) book, a 38-year-old Ranchi man is on the verge of developing India's own humanoid robot. Ranjit Srivastava said Rashmi has a functional head and body, but is missing the limbs, which will be fixed shortly. Rashmi is the world's first such Hindi-speaking robot, Srivastava claims, adding it can also speak in Bhojpuri, Marathi and English.
Rashmi, India's first lip-syncing robot, uses linguistic interpretation (LI), artificial intelligence (AI), visual data and facial recognition systems, just like Hong Kong-based Sophia. "Rashmi functions under a specially designed software and LI system. The LI analyzes the conversation while AI helps extract a response," Srivastava said, adding Rashmi says 'thank you' when complimented. But when chided, it says 'go to hell,' he laughingly said.
Srivastava, who holds an MBA, said the robot was being developed since past two years and it cost him Rs. 50,000. He will take one more month to "give it complete shape of a human. Process is on to add hands and legs to it." As of now, it's capable of moving its eyes, lips and eyebrows and can also move its neck.
"It can talk for hours and it recognizes the person after few meetings due to cameras fitted in its eyes," Srivastava said. When asked about his inspiration, Srivastava gave the unsurprising answer: Sophia, who's also the world's first robot citizen. "Humanoid robot is the need of future generation and can work as receptionists, helper, friend of lonely people, even politicians," he claimed.
Apart from the technology, Rashmi and Sophia are also alike in another aspect: Shahrukh Khan is a favorite of both, Srivastava, who has 15yrs of experience as a techie, quips. The proprietor of Lotus Communication has developed software like e-Nibandhan, tourism portal and e-library for Jharkhand government, which received national recognition. While e-Nibandhan won the SKOCH Award, the tourism portal won National Tourism Award.
