The Gulf Information Security and Expo Conference (GISEC) is coming to a wrap today and once it does a new public safety officer will take to the streets of Dubai. However, this one’s a bit different. Even though it stands at 170 centimetres and weighs around 100 kilogrammes, dimensions similar to a human being, this officer is, in fact, a robot.
That’s right, RoboCop is coming to life in Dubai as the world’s first robot policeman is added to the Dubai Police force. Robocop officially joined the line of duty on Sunday, as it greeted guests at the opening ceremony of GISEC. Naturally, or artificially in this instance, greeting people is just the tip of the iceberg. The robot policeman can also recognise gestures and hand signals of people it interacts with thanks to its embedded emotion detector. Furthermore, it can also discern different facial expressions and emotions, which in turn lets it better interact with people. As a result, the robot policeman will be able to change its own expression and greetings to appropriately respond.
It can also map the insides of buildings and navigate through its surroundings thanks to its self-control and drive feature. It can also broadcast live video feeds to a built-in tablet (which makes it look like a menacing Teletubby).This same tablet can assist people in completing smart police services. In addition to all of this, Robocop can also speak in six different languages, shake hands and offer a military salute. Robocop was designed by the Dubai police, with input from IBM’s Watson as well as Google.
“With an aim to assist and help people in the malls or on the streets, the Robocop is the latest smart addition to the force and has been designed to help us fight crime, keep the city safe and improve happiness levels. The launch of the world’s first operational Robocop is a significant milestone for the emirate and a step towards realising Dubai’s vision to be a global leader in smart cities technology adoption.”
– Brigadier-General Khalid Nasser Al Razzouqi, Director-General of Smart Services at Dubai Police.
The aim is for about 25 percent of the force to be robotic by 2030, to enable police to focus on crime prevention.
Source: Dubai Media Office
