Omeife It is the first African humanoid robot
Omeife, Africa's first humanoid robot, was officially unveiled at the world's largest technology event, Gitex, held at Dubai World Trade Center.
The humanoid robot called Omeife was created by the Uniccon Group of Companies, one of Nigeria's fastest growing technology start-ups that offers eclectic and innovative technology solutions to businesses and government agencies across Africa.
Omeife
Omeife, was constructed as a humanoid female character igbo 1,80 m tall who understands and speaks eight different languages. Powered by sophisticated artificial intelligence algorithms, developed in-house by the company's team of scientists, Omeife has a deep understanding of African culture and its behavioral patterns.
The humanoid robot also has a real-time understanding of its environment, including active listening and the ability to focus on a specific conversation topic while it is in progress.
It was designed to act as a service for companies that need to integrate the native audience in Africa, it is also a multipurpose and assistance robot and it is programmed to have a deep understanding of African culture and its various behavior patterns.
Chuks Ekwueme, who founded the company in 2020 and serves as CEO said:
“Not only is it multilingual, it has the ability to switch languages and interact with specific gestures like hand posture, smile and other body gestures that match the tone of the conversation.”
“Currently, Omeife speaks English, French, Arabic, Kiswahili, Pidgin, Wazobia, Afrikaans and of course Igbo”.
According to Ekwueme, Omeife does not have the ability to frown or show expressions of sadness, by choice of the company.
What really underscores the Africanness built into Omeife is his ability to speak each language with a native accent, tone and vocabulary, with detailed pronunciations of local words, phrases and even sayings. African politeness values are also rooted in their social interaction functions.
Omeife pays attention to a specific person to keep the conversation alive and chooses his words carefully, i.e. “sieves” words, phrases and expressions that are not polite in African cultures.
This specific attribute makes her safe to interact with children, and she also has a learning ability that helps her improve and understand new things from conversations. You can also remember and better understand old concepts with new information.
Omeife also has terrain intelligence as it knows its own ground level and floor stability, which helps it navigate uneven surfaces and maintain good balance. It also has a position recognition feature and a grip sensor that allows you to scale, understand shape and how to hold things with your hands.
The future
The Uniccon Group maintains the hope of improving the humanoid robot to the point of mass producing it and being able to sell it from US$ 30.000. According to Ekwueme, it is a project similar to that of Tesla for its humanoid. Musk said Tesla's humanoid robot, upon completion, will sell for $20.000.
Optimus, Tesla's humanoid robot is built for physicality while Omeife is built for social and intellectual interaction.
“We can also build for physicality, all we need to do is modify the AI and strengthen the hardware component of our humanoid robot,” said Ekwueme with confidence.
Mass production and sale at this price, more than the minimum price for Tesla's humanoid, might be a long shot, considering there aren't many robot mass production companies in the world right now. It may also take some time for the world to accept the commercialization of a robot made in Africa, compared to those in other regions that have been in the game for decades.
Building a robot is the beginning of the journey for Ekwueme and his team, driving global acceptance and adoption is likely to be more work. But sheer will is important when building in uncharted territory.
This is a crucial time where the African tech space is gaining a lot of attention and investment interest, the need to diversify and build exportable deep tech solutions should not be overlooked and discouraged.
Africa is a little mature to start solving global problems: projects like Omeife and similar ones currently under development are testaments to this thesis.
Uniccon Group of Companies CEO Chuks Ekwueme said of the project:
"Africa is quickly being recognized for its contribution to the global technology ecosystem."
"Through Omeife and other projects, we are helping businesses and people in Africa reach their full potential by providing access to the most innovative technologies."
At Gitex, Nigeria's Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Professor Isa Pantami, commended the Uniccon Group of Companies' commitment to playing a vital role in advancing technological innovations in Africa.
What do you think of this project? Do you believe that the Uniccon Group of Companies will be able to sell Omeife? We want to know your opinion, do not hesitate to comment and if you liked the article, share and give a “like/like”.
Picture: © 2022 Uniccon Group