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While the theme for this year’s CeBIT may have been ‘datability’, robotic inventions stole the show.
Talking at the event, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak said that when robots become smart enough, humans will “be like the family pet – like a really well-kept dog”.
He wasn’t the only one with robots on the brain.
CeBIT’s welcome address was delivered by a life-sized humanoid robot called RoboThespian.
Designed for human interaction in a public environment, RoboThespian is multilingual and intended for use in science centres and visitor attractions.
As Great Britain was the partner nation for the event, David Cameron was in the audience for RoboThespian’s speech. He also had the chance to shake hands with the bionic i-limb – a hand that has 24 different grips, produced by prosthetics company Touch Bionics.
While these inventions were designed to help or aid people, there were also robots on display for pure entertainment reasons.
Robots Lexy and Tess wowed the crowds with their pole-dancing skills. Writhing around to tunes being played by a DJ robot, the dancers were made out of old car parts and were designed by British artist Giles Walker.
120 British firms took part in this year’s CeBIT, which attracted more than 210,000 visitors from 100 different countries across four days. The organisers predict that €25 billion worth of business was negotiated during the event in Germany.
This year’s show was also the most youthful ever, with over 300 start-ups showcasing inventions, products and services.
