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Dental Tribune Middle East & Africa Edition | 6/2017 NEWS 33 From organic electronics to social robots: Digital pioneers illustrate the future By DTI LINKÖPING, Sweden: The digital fu- ture—or what it could possibly look like—came alive in the present at the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Jubilee Symposium at Linköping Univer- sity (LiU). Held earlier this autumn as one of six symposia to celebrate the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Founda- tion’s 100th anniversary in 2017, the event featured pioneering research and prototypes in the field of digital technology that are poised to shape and change people’s lives in the near future. Among the novel achievements pre- sented was a thin, pressure-sensitive material that aims to mimic human skin, in both appearance and func- tionality. “We are on the threshold of an era in which electronics will become part of our bodies. Wearable electronics will change our lives, and the relationship between us and the world around us,” said Prof. Zhenan Bao, who is from Stanford University in the US and part of the Stanford Wearable Electronics Initiative. According to Bao, the research in this field, which she called elastonics, requires expertise from many dif- ferent disciplines and could one day enable the creation of self-healing materials, among other innovations. Breakthrough research was also presented by local scientists. LiU researchers Prof. Magnus Berggren and Dr Eleni Stavrinidou described how they had been successful in con- necting organic electronics and hu- man nerve cells. As one of the many examples of how this technology could be used, they demonstrated a tiny ion pump used to disrupt pain signals. Further developed, the tech- nology may find application in the relief of chronic pain, the researchers said. Presenting the latest in robotic tech- nology was Prof. Nadia Thalmann, who works at the University of Gene- va in Switzerland and the Nanyang Technological University in Singa- pore. Thalmann has developed a ro- bot with social skills whom she chris- tened Nadine. The robot is able to interact with people and can, for ex- ample, distinguish different moods and tones. According to Thalmann, Nadine’s speech synthesis function is more advanced than that of Ap- ple’s Siri assistant, as Nadine “knows” who she is talking to and remembers previous conversations. “When she recognises me, she may ask me how my daughter is. She re- members me: she has a relationship with me and is interested in what I do,” explained Thalmann. However, there are plenty of challenges in ad- vancing Nadine’s social functions, the researcher emphasized. So far, the robot can follow one person at a time and shift focus from one person to another during a conversation. Yet, Nadine cannot cope with these decisions when many people talk at the same time. The goal for the robot is to be able to function in social con- texts, which involves understanding behavior, feelings and social rules and responding to them appropri- ately, Thalmann said. Currently, Nadine is “working” at ArtScience Museum in Singapore, where she interacts with visitors. “No-one is afraid of Nadine. Chil- dren who visit the exhibition can’t get enough of her: they don’t want to leave,” Thalmann said. Further research will experiment with dif- ferent types of speech synthesis and models of personality. Right now, the researchers are working on a male robot, Charlie. for looking after and stimulating elderly people and patients with de- mentia. In dentistry, the MEDi robot developed by US company RxRobots has already been successfully used in the paediatric dental setting since 2015. The robot helps distract chil- dren with initial anxiety and fear, thereby enabling the dental team to continue with their work with less interruption. In the future, robots with social func- tions such as Nadine could be used Celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, the Knut and Alice Wallen- berg Foundation is one of Europe’s largest private research funders. The jubilee symposium in Linköping was received enthusiastically by both the audience and the organizers alike. “Today has given me a great deal of inspiration. It’s not often that I can sit and listen for a full day, but this has been truly interesting and exciting,” commented LiU Vice Chancellor Prof. Helen Dannetun on the suc- cessful event. “I am impressed and fascinated by research that leads to discoveries that we didn’t even know that we were looking for,” said Peter Wallen- berg Jr, Chairman of the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation. “Some Swedish universities are exceptional, and Linköping is one of them. This is a relatively small university which focusses on a few areas, and is do- ing an excellent job with limited re- sources,” he added. International Dental Exhibition Africa 3RD INTERNATIONAL TRADE SHOW FOR THE DENTAL SECTOR IN AFRICA! 14TH-16TH DECEMBER 2017 UNECA CONGRESS CENTER ADDIS ABABA ETHIOPIA www.idea-africa.com