Shimi Will Shimmy at Google I/O

Category: Science & Technology
Posted: June 27, 2012 10:16AM
Author: Guest_Jim_*

After reading the title you may be wondering who or what is Shimi. The answer is a one-foot tall robot with better dance moves than me (which is not much of an accomplishment) developed at the Georgia Institute of Technology.

With the proper app to drive the robot, a smartphone can be docked into Shimi's 'hand.' At this point the robot comes alive as it recommends music, will find the tracks you want based on you clapping out the rhythm, and then moves with the beat. As the developers work more with the robot, they hope to give it the ability to respond to hand gestures that signify volume changes and track skips. Already it uses the phone's camera to track where you are in the room, and keep the speakers directed at you.

Part of the reason Shimi has been created and displayed at the Google I/O conference is to show the world that robots are not necessarily something to be afraid of. This robot is not replacing part of our everyday lives and is just meant to be fun and entertaining.