DUBAI – Authorities in the United Arab Emirates are planning to introduce interactive patrolling robots that will monitor the area’s growing population by 2017.
The announcement comes as more police departments around the world are utilizing drones and bomb-disabling robots.
The robots will feature an interactive screen and microphone, which will be connected to the Dubai Police call centers, RT.com reports.
The first generation of the robocops will be dispatched to crowded public spaces, such as malls, and will interact with people and tourists. People will be able to ask the robots questions and make complaints, according to Colonel Khalid Nasser Alrazooqi, who leads the city’s “smart” unit.
However, in the next four or five years, the city plans to launch fully intelligent robocops that will interact with people with no human intervention at all.
Several companies are currently working on technology to make robots more humanoid and independent creations.
For example, Knightscope, a startup company in California, has already deployed intelligent robot inside several private corporate properties. The firm’s prototype looks more like R2-D2 rather than a metal police officer, but has the ability to scan license plates and faces, as well as spotting suspicious behavior.
And while the droid cannot intervene with gunfire, it does sound a piercing alarm and warns authorities. For the moment, it cannot intervene with gunfire, but lets out a piercing alarm, and warns the authorities.
The company is currently looking for contracts with the state security agency, and Dubai could likely be an early client, RT.com reports.
