Happy National Robotics Week! We at IT Life really think this ought be a holiday. It should be a week off of work where people build robots and give them to each other. Since we can't do that the next best thing is to bring on a robotics expert to devote an entire hour to talking about them.

 

In a world where robots are perceived as increasingly dangerous, Aldebaran is making social robots designed to mix into the family units, schools, and retail settings. They are emotionally sensitive, capable of talking to you, learning your tastes and interests, and even singing your favorite song.

 

That's a far cry from the mindless killing machines some folks are worried about. Robots are even starting to inspire protests like those that occurred at SXSW. Should we fear them?

We'll talk to Rodolphe Gelin about:

The role of social robots in the enterpriseSocial robots in our livesWhether we should fear robotsHow to make robots fit into our lives

Since December 2008, Rodolphe has been responsible for the collaborative projects at Aldebaran Robotics. He has led various teams at Aldebaran in several national and European collaborative projects. He is most notably the head of Romeo2 project involving 18 French partners, industrial and academics, in the implementation of a large robot for assistance to the elderly.

Rodolphe is the author of the books "Robot, friend or foe? ", “How can reality be virtual?” and “The robot, man's best friend."