Animatronics marvel talked, sang and danced as it showcased Omniyat's futuristic project at Cityscape property exhibition
A three-metre tall robot called Titan that talked, sang and danced was the star attraction at the recently concluded Cityscape property exhibition.
The animatronics marvel roamed the halls of Dubai International Exhibition Centre and attracted cheering crowds to the Omniyat Properties stand.
Delighted visitors mobbed the machine and took photographs of each other standing next to it.
"The robot was so cute and fascinating that it drew a huge crowd," said Benoit Montin, Omniyat's Events and Exhibitions Manager.
"We used it to promote the Pad, a high-tech building that will use custom-built robots to serve residents.
"The crowd was cheering and laughing because it was their first encounter with a life-like interactive robot. Many people only knew about robots through science fiction novels, movies or cartoons.
"This robot was brought from the United Kingdom. It can talk to people and enter tain them in different ways. It produces blue light through 200 light-emitting diodes." Titan not only produces sound effects from a built-in digital sampler, but is also fit ted with a smoke effects system. The amazing machine is a regular crowd-puller at street festivals, trade shows, shopping centres and exhibitions in the UK and around the world. It can be programmed to speak in different languages - in Dubai it spoke and sang in English.
The animatronic machine was built by British company Cyberstein Robots and has appeared at more than 3,000 events all over the world.
In Dubai, it has previously performed at Dubailand, the Kempinski Hotel at the Mall of the Emirates and for Virgin.
Titan is a regular crowdpuller at London Zoo and has performed for the British Royal Navy and on MTV.
The robot also helped to attract a record number of spectators to the Honda Powerboat Grand Prix in Liverpool, England.
At the end of each show at Cityscape,Titan climbed onto the back seat of a motorcycle and promised to return.
A second robot an interactive turtle called a Show Bot also entertained visitors at the Omniyat stall.
The Pad, a Dh500 million building, is under construction in Dubai's Business Bay and is due to be completed in 2009. Omniyat is developing a number of high-tech projects in the city worth several billion dirhams.
By VM Sathish
© Emirates Today 2007
