A robotic sculpture speaking to people

This video shows the interactive robotic sculpture conceived and realized by the artist Albano Guatti. The robotic part was totally developed by people at the IAS-lab and at IT+Robotics according to Guatti´s concept. This work is the result of the meeting of robotics and art. The video shows that the robot is able to locate people in the environment, to navigate toward them avoiding the obstacles and to approach them as a polite waiter will do. In fact, the sculpture represents a waiter and a waitress (actually their suits, the statue do not have a body, they represent empty suits). The waiters chat among them (by play different pre-recorded voice files) while wandering in the environment. Once the robot locates a person and get close to her, it asks the customer one out of different pre-recorded questions. The more likely is: Would you like a drink?, that is the title of the sculpture.