Peeking into the future

Meet Sophia – a robot that can show all sorts of human expressions on her almost human-looking face. How to know whether that made visitors to a WEF satellite venue feel excited or scared? Monitor their brainwaves by asking them to wear headsets. (Carlo Pisani, swissinfo.ch)

At The Loft, the fourth industrial revolution was the theme behind the futuristic experiences on offer. WEF delegates could have close encounters with the technology of the future.

The robot named Sophia was developed by the Hong Kong based company Hanson Robotics. There were also three smaller robots who could take 20-30 minutes to create a portrait of someone standing in front of them.

Switzerland was being represented by Artmyn, a spin-off from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL). They have developed a 3D scanner to capture highly accurate digital information from visual artworks, which then can be then experienced online through true-to-life visualisations on a simple web browser.