A humanoid robot trained to ‘understand’ emotions is set to make what is believed to be his first public appearance in Bristol.
Pepper, pictured, the latest member to join the Bristol-based GWS Robotics team, is a 4ft tall robot which can talk, laugh, dance and even ‘feel’.
The public can interact with Pepper at the Being There Showcase at the Watershed digital media centre next Tuesday. 
GWS Robotics creative director David Graves said: “We are delighted to be part of such an exciting and innovative event.
“We look forward to introducing Pepper to the wider public, who will have the chance to talk to him and watch how he responds.”
GWS Robotics, spun out of design and digital marketing company GWS Media, paid £20,000 for the robot, which has only recently become available in the UK.
The firm will customise Pepper, created by Japanese firm SoftBank Robotics, so he is suitable for individual companies.
David, a Cambridge University graduate who has worked as a computer programmer for nearly two decades, said: “It’s a very interesting challenge, developing an application for a robot like Pepper that can interact and talk with you.”
Being There is a four-year project funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) which brought together five collaborative teams of researchers from the Universities of Exeter, Bath, Oxford, Cambridge (formerly at Queen Mary University of London) and the Bristol Robotics Laboratory (BRL).
The team has been working in collaboration with Watershed and a diverse range of creative practitioners to produce original work using state-of-the-art technologies and to explore current themes in robotics and public space.
Dr Paul Bremner and Peter Gibbons from BRL have investigated laboratory tele-operated robots – looking at the potential of being able to appear in avatar form.
Dr Bremner said: “Controlled remotely, a tele-operator will be able to see through the robot’s eyes and speak through its mouth, while directing where it looks and how it moves.
“The aim is for the robot to be an avatar for a remote person who would be able to take part in the same activities as those actually present at an event, lifting the barriers to participation that exist for a number of groups including the ill, disabled and those living in remote areas.”
Dr Bremner is also showcasing a collaboration between BRL, Bristol-based robotic artists and designers Rusty Squid, and Dr Chris Bevan from the University of Bath called Puppet Presence.
This project explores what robotic tele-presence research can learn from the art puppetry via a motion capture puppet that enables direct puppeteering of an Aldebaran Nao humanoid robot.
Dr Bremner said: “Three professional puppeteers animate the puppet by hand, their movements captured, animating the Nao robot which in effect becomes its human substitute. But is it possible for humans to develop a trustworthy and meaningful representation in public through robotic avatars?”
Watershed creative director Clare Reddington and Being There project lead Professor Mark Levine from the University of Exeter, will open the showcase with celebrated British designer Sebastian Conran, who will give the keynote speech.
Clare Reddington said: “We are excited to showcase the projects, ideas and unique collaboration methods created across Being There with the public.
“Giving people a chance to engage with cutting-edge research in a fun and approachable way is a proven way to invite new people into the conversation about the role of robotics in our future.”
The event will feature presentations from the Being There robotics researchers and quick-fire sharing sessions with the project leads – spanning technology, engineering, psychology and security.
Visitors have a chance to play with some commissioned robot games and dance with ‘robot-lets.’
The showcase will end with a Robot Cabaret, hosted by Bill Thompson of BBC Click.
For full details visit http://being-there.org.uk/
