In a significant stride towards extending the lifespan and capabilities of legacy robots, a team of researchers has unveiled the Enhanced NAO, a revitalized version of Aldebaran’s NAO robot that breathes new life into an otherwise outdated platform. The Enhanced NAO is not just a simple upgrade; it’s a comprehensive overhaul that integrates modern sensing, speech, and interaction capabilities, making it a valuable tool for long-term research in human-robot interaction.
The Enhanced NAO is equipped with upgraded microphones, RGB-D and thermal cameras, and additional compute resources, all housed in a fully self-contained package. This enhanced sensory suite allows the robot to perceive and interact with its environment in ways that were previously impossible. The upgraded microphones, for instance, employ beamforming technology to reduce artifacts like self-hearing and improve multi-party separation, making conversations with the robot more natural and engaging.
One of the most notable aspects of the Enhanced NAO is its ability to combine cloud and local models for perception and dialogue. This hybrid approach ensures that the robot can process information quickly and efficiently, without sacrificing the richness and nuance of its interactions. In a pilot validation study, the Enhanced NAO delivered significantly higher conversational quality and stronger user preference compared to the NAO AI Edition, all without increasing response latency. This is a testament to the effectiveness of the upgrades and the thoughtful integration of new technologies.
The Enhanced NAO’s expressive body and behaviors have been preserved, ensuring that it remains a familiar and engaging companion for users. The expanded visual and thermal sensing capabilities lay the groundwork for future interaction capabilities, making the Enhanced NAO a versatile platform for a wide range of research applications.
Beyond the NAO, the researchers’ framework provides a platform-agnostic strategy for extending the lifespan and research utility of legacy robots. This means that the principles and technologies developed for the Enhanced NAO can be applied to other robots, ensuring that they remain valuable tools for human-robot interaction research.
For music and audio production, the Enhanced NAO’s advanced audio processing capabilities could open up new avenues for exploration. Imagine a robot that can not only understand and respond to musical cues but also generate and manipulate sound in real-time. The Enhanced NAO’s beamforming microphones and low-latency audio processing could enable it to separate and isolate different instruments or voices in a complex audio environment, making it a powerful tool for audio engineers and producers. Furthermore, the robot’s expressive body and behaviors could be used to create dynamic and engaging performances, blurring the line between human and machine in the world of music. Read the original research paper here.
