An Expo Brings Sci-Fi To Life With Clones, Noseprints, And Flying Taxis

While the Mobile World Congress (MWC) is primarily a pow-wow for the big-wigs of the telecom industry, there are always hidden tech gems hidden away from the main thoroughfares of this vast event.

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Here are some of the most offbeat products AFP has spotted.

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In terms of advertising slogans, "you can live forever" ranks among the best.

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The term "personalized AI clone" is used by Memori Yamato, who is the CEO of Alt Inc., a Japanese technology company.

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"Even after your death, your descendants will be able to continue to communicate with you and interact with you," Yamato told AFP.

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During your lifetime, the idea is to upload as many videos, images, and audio samples as you are able to.

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In order to make sure you are forever cloned in the digital world, the system will use the information to generate an AI mirror.

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"The robot will look just like you, speak in your voice, and even think just like you," she said.

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She said the idea has been in the works for nine years and feedback from early users suggests that the technology does a great job of recreating appearances and voices.

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There is a similarity between the identifying traits of the nose of a dog and those of a fingerprint of a person.

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This information was taken by a South Korean start-up called Petnow and was used as a basis for creating a biometric database for pets based on noseprints rather than microchips, which is a more accurate way of tracking animals.

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"The fact that dogs' noses are a lot like fingerprints has been known since the 1940s," Peter Jung, the firm's head of research, told AFP.

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There are around 100,000 animals that are abandoned every year in South Korea, most of them because their owners cannot afford to pay for their veterinary care.

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"Less than 10 percent of the people have chips because they are not fond of the process," he said.

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A photo is all Petnow requires and AI does the rest, ensuring that the photo is good enough to be used for identification purposes.

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Thousands of pet owners have signed up for Jung's system since last year, and he hopes that the government will change the rules to allow him to replace chips with his system in the near future.

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The good news is that cat lovers do not have to worry. It is possible that their noses are too small to be identifiable, but each feline face is unique and can be used in the system regardless of its size.

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Flying taxis, a staple of science fiction and a dream of the super-rich, could be a reality as soon as 2025, according to SK Telecom, a Korean telecom company.

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A real-life prototype with jittering seats was on display at the MWC, where some attendees were able to get a taste of what the VR headsets will be like in the near future.

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With six electric motors, the craft is halfway between a helicopter and a drone, which allows it to take off and land vertically at any time.

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The car can carry up to four passengers and can travel at a maximum speed of 320 kilometers per hour (198 miles per hour).

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Developed by South Korea's largest telecom company SK Telecom and Californian start-up Joby Aviation, the company hopes that it will solve the problems of congestion in South Korea's cities without costing a fortune.

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"Korea has severe traffic congestion in urban areas, but building a highway or subway requires a great deal of social expenditure," said Ken Wohn of the firm.

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"With the use of this UAM (Urban Air Mobility) service, we can reduce our customers' travel time without having to make so much infrastructure."

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There is a possibility that in the future, we could spend our later years in the company of "socially intelligent" robots capable of "building an emotional relationship" with us.

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Eurecat, a Spanish technology outfit, has created a robot that will never be left alone in the house, which it calls NHOA -- or "never home alone".

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The program is designed to reduce loneliness among older people who live at home and are living alone.

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It is a 160 cm tall orange and white robot that can be controlled both by a touchscreen and by a voice command.

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According to Eurecat's David Mari, the goal is not to replace human relationships with technology, but to "humanize" the applications and connected objects that older people use on a daily basis.

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