Meet Rashid, the brainchild of four talented UAEU students, Alshaimaa Al Naqbi, Shamma Al Wheibi, Fatima Al Dhaheri and Mooza Al Aleeli. He was created for their Artificial Intelligence (CSBP301) Spring 2017 lab project. Smartly dressed in a kandora, and wearing a name tag, Rashid has a friendly voice and an approachable manner, and uses hand gestures as well. He has a head, face, ears and eyes, and walks with a purpose. Best of all, he can also help you find your way if you are lost. If you say “Hi!” to him, he will answer, “Hello, I’m Rashid. Where do you want to go to?” Then when you tell him, he will give you the room number and directions, and even accompany you if you wish.

Fatima explains, “Our idea came after we noticed that there are a lot of people having difficulties finding rooms and important places in our building, and a lot of freshman students find it hard to find their adviser’s room and phone number. So Rashid is here to help. He can assist a lot of people who pass by the IT building heading to a professor's office or any place in the building.”

The students were supervised by College of Information Technology Assistant Professor Dr Fady Al Najjar, and their lab teacher Mrs Huda Amer.

You can watch Rashid in action here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqQeGpTV2xI&feature=youtu.be