The 48th edition of the Giffoni Film Festival will open on July 20^th under the banner of technology and research, with an exceptional catwalk organized in collaboration with Giffoni Innovation Hub for the humanoid robot Pepper, who will take on the role of juror as “giffoner 5601”. Pepper is the symbol and instrument of a research carried out by Silvia Rossi, head of the laboratory of Intelligent Robotics and Advanced Cognitive Systems Projects (PRISCA) of the Federico II University of Naples, who, for the occasion, will show the robot’s ability to interact with the audience.

PRISCA was founded in 2010, from the close collaboration between the Automation and Computer Science departments, and a strong reference, that of PRISMA Lab, researching on robotics on a more properly industrial level, with a team coordinated by Bruno Siciliano, one of the leading experts in the field.

Pepper is a humanoid robot, designed by SoftBank Robotics, which will entertain the boys and girls of the Giffoni Film Festival by introducing the concept of Artificial Intelligence - the key theme of Next Generation, the Giffoni Film Festival innovation exhibition - showing its level of autonomy and the ability to interact naturally with the public.

Pepper, along with other robots, is used by the PRISCA laboratory, which focuses on the design of intelligent, autonomous and adaptive systems in different application domains. Among the projects funded in recent times, there is UPA4SAR, whose goal is to make robotic systems able to adapt their behavior according to the activities and preferences of elderly patients suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. This is done with the aim to make these systems more friendly and acceptable to humans. There are also robots that assist children with cognitive difficulties in their rehabilitation process and support them in the hospital setting.

Silvia Rossi will be present with collaborators for a workshop with the theme: Artificial Intelligence and Robot programming for Kids, to be held on july 20^th and 21^st  in one of the Giffoni digital AI Labs.