Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Company (Adnec) is set to begin trials on a robot which can assist visitors at the emirate's expo centre, providing them with information and guiding them to stands and key locations within the venue.

The pilot project featuring the 2011-REEM (Reem), will take place at the International Defence Exhibition & Conference (IDEX 2011) which opens today (Sunday) at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre.

Reem, measuring 1.65m in height, is the latest prototype from PAL Robotics, a Royal Group conglomerate company based in Abu Dhabi.

The advanced capabilities of Reem include a motorised head with vision, face tracking and recognition functions.

The robot contains sensors and a multimedia touchscreen that can offer information in various formats, as well as the ability to speak to a helpdesk attendant via video conference. It also has a mobile base that enables it to move at 5km/hour.

Adnec said in addition to greeting and guiding visitors, Reem has also been programmed to provide a personalised greeting to a number of VIPs who will be visiting the tenth anniversary edition of Idex.

Commenting on the pilot project, Ali Saeed Bin Harmal Al Dhaheri, Adnec managing director said, "We are delighted to be able to trial Reem during the forthcoming Idex. Adnec is committed to providing visitors with state of the art facilities and first class customer service."

"It’s important to think outside the box to remain at the top of a very competitive global industry; should Reem prove a success at Idex, we will expand the trial to cover other events staged at Adnec venues.”

Peter Abraam, executive director, Strategic Planning, Royal Group said: “We are delighted to be able to showcase the extensive capabilities of Reem at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre – one of the world’s leading venues.

"Reem has been designed to assist people in places such as shopping malls, hotels, hospitals, museums and exhibition centres. I believe Reem could be a great asset to Adnec and will be enjoyed by the thousands of visitors who attend the many events held at the venue each year," he added.

With 73,000sq m of indoor event space, the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre is the Gulf’s largest exhibition centre and hosted 148 events last year including exhibitions, conferences, concerts, weddings, corporate meetings and conventions.-TradeArabia News Service