xiaomi’s humanoid robot ‘cyberone’ can detect 45 human emotions via AI algorithms

Cyberone is a futuristic robotic friend

The humanoid robot CyberOne from Xiaomi hopes to befriend anyone it meets using its artificial intelligence-based interaction algorithms that allows it to detect 45 classifications of human emotion and recognize 85 types of environmental sounds. CyberOne functions through its advanced arms and legs and is supported by bipedal-motion posture balancing. Its advanced vision capabilities and functionality grant Xiaomi’s CyberOne three-dimensional virtual reconstructions of the real world along with a host of other advanced technologies. Xiaomi’s first humanoid robot debuted at the company’s new product launch event in Beijing on August 11th.

Based on its introductory specifications, CyberOne measures 177 centimeters in height and 52 kilos by weight with an arm span of 168 centimeters. It is mechanically complex as it requires more powerful motors and intricate biped control algorithms. It supports up to 21 degrees of freedom in motion and can respond in real-time with a speed of 0.5ms for each degree of freedom. Xiaomi writes that a robot’s motion performance is dependent on the performance of each joint motor and that it is necessary to generate more kinetic energy for the motors without increasing the size of components. As a result, Xiaomi’s CyberOne developed a motor that weighs 500 grams with a rated output torque of up to 30Nm for the upper limb joint motor.

images courtesy of Xiaomi

Equipped with vocal emotion identification engine

Through the self-developed humanoid bipedal control algorithm, the walking posture of Xiaomi’s CyberOne has been programmed to be both natural and stable. The humanoid robot is also capable of holding up to 1.5 kilos in weight with a single hand and programming by demonstration. Humanoid robots rely on vision to process their surroundings, so Xiaomi equipped CyberOne with an in-house Mi-Sense depth vision module and an AI interaction algorithm. Using these elements, it can perceive 3D space and recognize people, gestures, and expressions, allowing it to not only see but to process its environment.

What Xiaomi imagines for CyberOne is to interact and make friends with people, so the company equips it with a self-developed MiAI environment semantics recognition engine and a MiAI vocal emotion identification engine, which allow CyberOne to detect happiness, and even comfort the user in times of sadness. Xiaomi shares that all of these features are integrated into CyberOne’s processing units, which are paired with a curved OLED module to display real-time interactive information.

CyberOne functions through its advanced arms and legs

Robots as part of society’s lives

Lei Jun – the Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Xiaomi Group – states that CyberOne’s AI and mechanical capabilities are all self-developed by Xiaomi Robotics Lab. ‘We have invested heavily in R&D spanning various areas, including software, hardware, and algorithms innovation. With AI at its core and a full-size humanoid frame as its vessel, this is an exploration of the possibilities of Xiaomi’s future technological ecosystem and a new breakthrough for the company,’ he shares. He thinks that intelligent robots will be a part of people’s lives in the future, and by introducing CyberOne to the world, it might as well be that.

close-up view of CyberOne by Xiaomi