Presentation of the book “Tales from a Robotic World: How Intelligent Machines Will Shape Our Future” by Dario Floreano and Nicola Nosengo.
May 11th 2023 | 6:30pm
Khalifa University – Main Campus
G Building Auditorium (G01011)
An interactive seminar on robotics, where the scientific writer and co-author Nicola Nosengo will present the book and introduce on the amazing developments of robotics in the last century.
RSVP: https://talesfromaroboticworld.splashthat.com/
Greetings by Prof. Ernesto Damiani, Director of Center for Cyber-Physical Systems, Khalifa University (online); Prof. Ida Zilio-Grandi, Director of Italian Cultural Institute Abu Dhabi – Embassy of Italy.
with
Prof. Jorge Miranda Dias, Deputy Director of the Center for Robotics and Autonomous Systems (KUCARS) at Khalifa University; Dr. Yazan Al Momany (Astronomer and Scientific Attaché, Embassy of Italy); Dr. Giulia De Masi (Principal Scientist, Abu Dhabi).
Stories from the future of intelligent machines—from rescue drones to robot spouses—and accounts of cutting-edge research that could make it all possible.
Tech prognosticators promised us robots—autonomous humanoids that could carry out any number of tasks. Instead, we have robot vacuum cleaners. But, as Dario Floreano and Nicola Nosengo report, advances in robotics could bring those rosy predictions closer to reality. A new generation of robots, directly inspired by the intelligence and bodies of living organisms, will be able not only to process data but to interact physically with humans and the environment. In this book, Floreano, a roboticist, and Nosengo, a science writer, bring us tales from the future of intelligent machines—from rescue drones to robot spouses—along with accounts of the cutting-edge research that could make it all possible.
These stories from the not-so-distant future show us robots that can be used for mitigating effects of climate change, providing healthcare, working with humans on the factory floor, and more. Floreano and Nosengo tell us how an application of swarm robotics could protect Venice from flooding, how drones could reduce traffic on the congested streets of mega-cities like Hong Kong, and how a “long-term relationship model” robot could supply sex, love, and companionship. After each fictional scenario, they explain the technologies that underlie it, describing advances in such areas as soft robotics, swarm robotics, aerial and mobile robotics, humanoid robots, wearable robots, and even biohybrid robots based on living cells. Robotics technology is no silver bullet for all the world’s problems—but it can help us tackle some of the most pressing challenges we face.
Presenting Author
Nicola Nosengo is a science journalist and author. In Italy he has contributed, among others, to L’Espresso, La Stampa, Focus, Le Scienze, Mente e Cervello, Il Tascabile, covering technology, physics, space science, robotics and AI, neuroscience. He has been covering Italian science for Nature for several years, and has contributed to the Science & Technology section of The Economist. He is currently Chief Editor of Nature Italy. In addition to his journalistic work, he has worked as a communicator for the Italian Space Agency, the Italian Institute for Astrophysics, and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL). He has worked with RAI (Italy’s public broadcasting company) for projects and programmes on science and technology. He is the author of four books, including “Tales from a Robotic World. How Intelligent Machines Will Shape Our Future”, co-authored with Dario Floreano and published in 2022 by the MIT Press. He has a degree in Communication from the University of Siena and a master in Science Communication from the International School of Advanced Studies (ISAS) in Trieste. A native of Genoa, raised in the Piedmont region, he has lived in Rome and Lausanne and is now based in Milan.