'Sophia The Robot' Visits Century College
WHITE BEAR LAKE, Minn. (WCCO) -- She's a celebrity who has been all over the world.
And on Tuesday, she made a visit to the Twin Cities. But "she" is not human. Sophia the Humanoid Robot visited Century College in White Bear Lake.
WCCO's Molly Rosenblatt was there to show us what Sophia is capable of.
She's met with the United Nations Deputy Chief. Saudia Arabia is the first country to ever grant citizenship to a robot. And on Tuesday, Sophia showed a captive audience just what she's capable of.
"Hello everyone, thank you for inviting me here today. I am thrilled to be here in Minnesota and particularly White Bear Lake, the epicenter of the Twin Cities," Sophia said.
Sophia is known for her human like appearance, ability to make facial expressions, imitate human gestures and answer certain questions on specific topics. According to her creator, she uses artificial intelligence, visual data processing and facial recognition.
"How can you demonstrate your empathy and compassion in a useful manner? Robots like me will be able to learn important things about our friends so we can provide custom personal assistance, like reminders to give medicine," Sophia said.
So you might be wondering how Sophia is tied to Century College. At the school's Fab Lab, which stands for Fabrication Laboratory, they create things like these prosthetics with 3D printers, which are basically building blocks for how Sophia was made.
Scott Simenson is the Director of the Fab Lab.
"The opportunity to bring something like that here was a long shot, but it's really excited our students and that's why we're here. We're here to get students excited about the STEM field and get students to develop awareness and understanding," Simenson said. "And that's what they need to go forward for professional careers."
Just last month, Sophia's creator developed a new Sophia model that can actually walk with robotic legs.
