sophia the robot now has a baby sister, little sophia

hanson robotics is the hong kong and los angeles-based company behind sophia the robot, the eerily life-like humanoid.you might remember, she was granted citizenship in saudi arabia? well now sophia has a 14-inch sibling: little sophia, who wants to help kids learn how to code.

all images courtesy of hanson robotics

literally walking in the footsteps of her older sister, little sophia can talk, sing, play games and, tell jokes. her main objective however, is to teach kids—’especially girls’—between the ages of seven and 13 about STEM, coding and AI. with little sophia’s software, and included tutorials through hanson’s AI academy, she is a ‘unique programmable, educational companion for kids, inspiring children to learn through a safe, interactive, human-robot experience’.

launching on kickstarter today, little sophia comes with an ‘open’ software platform (supporting python and block-based programming languages) which makes the little companion uniquely programmable according to hanson robotics. the bluetooth and wi-fi-enabled bot also interfaces with raspberry pi, ‘allowing kids to learn electronics and robotics, and help her become as smart and capable as their imagination will allow.’

when she isn’t teaching, she’s able to express herself showing various emotions through life-like facial expressions including ‘happy,’ ‘sad,’ ‘surprise,’ ‘grouchy,’ and ‘delighted’. little sophia can sing, recite jokes, tell stories, respond to voice commands, and even pose for selfies via the sophia mobile companion app’s augmented reality (AR) feature. through smart software, little sophia also doubles as a home assistant. like amazon alexa but through a little person.

‘the growth of stem jobs in the future is expected to skyrocket‘, hanson robotics comments. ‘however, there’s a lack of women in these fields meaning fewer female role models, both for current female stem employees, and for girls still forming career choices. there’s no evidence that girls are less capable in these fields, but rather that they often ‘feel’ less capable, partly due to stereotyping.’

‘stats vary by country and by discipline, but generally speaking, women make up only 15-25% of the current stem workforce, and the gap is broadening‘, it continues. ‘we believe that little sophia can help to introduce stem, coding and ai to children – especially girls – in a fun, safe, inspiring and interactive way that might help to make small difference in reversing the current trends.‘

sophia the robot on the TODAY show, presenting little sophia
video by TODAY