The Robot Dances Better

I was very fortunate today to skip across town and meet Seth White and Simon Bench who are responsible for a robot named Pepper. Pepper is the first emotional humanoid robot. Capable of recognising main emotions, whether greeting guests or working with children to improve their learning and performance. The latter is the main reason I went to see Pepper (and to tick 'meet a robot' off of my boyhood dreams list). I am teaming up with Volume the AI agency to bring Pepper into a local Plymouth school and use the robot to promote poetry. Pepper has been programmed with a script (written by me) of similes that can be recalled when prompted with a question. The Volume team will be showing off Pepper's new literary talents the same week as World Book Day. This is a brilliant opportunity to promote both poetry and programming. These are the sorts of experiences that children will never forget and could be the inspirational catalyst for a whole new generation of writers or engineers. I am so excited! On a side note, Pepper is much better at dancing than me and I now have the video evidence to prove it.