Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo unveiled Omeife, Africa’s first humanoid, in Abuja on Friday to encourage AI and technical growth in Nigeria and Africa.
Isa Pantami, Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, and Kashifu Inuwa, NITDA Director-General, represented Mr Osinbajo. Uniccon group built Omeife, the first African humanoid robot. AI and computer vision provide Omeife with human-like language, movement, navigation, and behaviour.
“We are living in an exciting moment of great technical growth, when science fiction of yesteryear is becoming the reality in goods and services of today,” he stated.
Mr Osinbajo said the federal government was responsible for the project’s success and invited stakeholders to participate to guarantee Omeife’s success and establish new ones.
Considering humans made Omeife and other robots, he allayed concerns that technology or artificial intelligence might replace human occupations.
At the ceremony, Uniccon Group CEO Chucks Ekwueme said Africa has been recognized for its contributions to the global ICT sector.
Mr. Ekwueme stated Omeife spoke English, Yoruba, Hausa, Igbo, French, Arabic, Kiswahili, Pidgin, Wazobia, and Afrikaans.
The six-foot-tall female African humanoid, a multifunctional and support robot, delivers language as a service for enterprises that need to incorporate local African audiences.
“We are proud to assist African companies and individuals reach their full potential by offering access to the latest efficiency solutions.
“It tags persons using face and facial expressions, focusing on a single object when needed.
“It recognizes things, understands their features, and calculates locations and distances,” he added.
