Have you met ‘Shalu’? School teacher from Mumbai creates humanoid which speaks 47 languages

MUMBAI: How does the idea of a humanoid teaching children at school sound to you? Well, in our tech-obsessed world, where Artificial Intelligence (AI) has barely reached rudimentary levels, this could very well be a reality sooner than we expect.

Dinesh Patel, a Kendriya Vidyalaya school teacher from IIT-Mumbai campus, has created a Robot which not just resembles a woman, but also speaks like one. She is named ‘Shalu’. Patel, a self-confessed gizmo freak, created Shalu in his home with locally purchased items which are easily available. He strongly believes that Indians too have the potential to create sophisticated and high tech devices if given the right platform.

Dressed in a churidar, Shalu looks like a human at first glance. She is capable of emoting many gestures like handshake, anger, irritation, or simply, laughing. Not just this, Shalu has a diverse set of capabilities which ranges from solving simple Mathematical problems, recognising objects and people, to engaging in casual talks. She speaks 9 Indian languages - English, Hindi, Bhojpuri, Marathi, Bangla, Gujarati, Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam. Shalu can also converse in 38 foreign languages as well.

Patel believes that Shalu can be a perfect companion for office work and daily household chores.

Shalu 2.0

Patel, who took three years to develop Shalu, says that she is just a prototype. He plans on enhancing her capabilities a notch higher in his next attempt. However, lack of funds and resources are acting as an impediment in his quest. “With more research and development in this area, humanoids can revolutionise our lifestyle forever”, says Patel.

Ask him, what does he plan to do with Shalu? “I want to take her to school with me. She can be a great teacher and the children will love her.”