Humanoid robot Sophia makes debut at IIT-Bombay

 

Mumbai: The most awaited event at the IIT Bombay for all tech lovers turned somewhat disappointing on Saturday with the first humanoid Robot to get citizenship, Sophia, malfunctioned during its speech at the Tech-Fest in the institute on Saturday afternoon.

As the crowd of over 3000 people waited with baited breath, Sophia, draped in a sari began its demonstration, answering the initial few questions smartly and impressed the audience with her wits.

However, after the initial questions, she stopped responding to questions. When the anchor asked her opinion about spending so much money on robots when there are so many issues she just stopped talking.

The organisers then announced that they would have to stop the event due to a technical issue. As the crowd was about to leave the hall, the organisers then said that they would resume in a while. 

When the programme finally started again, Sophia was back to talking amidst much cheer from the crowd. The organisers also arranged a second slot as there was a huge queue outside the auditorium to watch Sophia.

This is the debut visit of Sophia to India after getting a country's citizenship.  Sophia is a humanoid robot made by Dr David Hanson, CEO, Hanson Robotics Limited, a Hong Kong-based robotics company. In October, the Saudi Arabian government granted Sophia citizenship, which made her the first humanoid robot to be given citizenship of a country.