IBM Watson powered Robot 'Chintu' at MIT Tech Fest in Pune

The students at MIT Pune have been using IBM Watson APIs powered Robot 'Chintu' at MIT Tech Fest in Pune which can assist senior citizens in conducting everyday tasks.

Drawing from Watson's domain knowledge, Chintu will assist senior citizens in conducting everyday tasks such as reading the newspaper/ book, provide mood based entertainment services for song and dance and generate reminders on their daily medication.

Krishnamohan Manmohan, a student at MIT Pune said, "What I like most about Watson is that it is an incredible platform that provides a variety of services that can solve real world problems. These services can be used as and when required and are always accessible. It's definitely something that all students should have access to, in order to develop the market relevant skills sets.''

"The Watson documentation was very helpful and provided a smooth learning curve. It was a great experience building with IBM Watson." said Astitva Shah, another student at MIT Pune.

"The grant from IBM led to the purchase of Chintu, the cognitive assistant, powered by IBM Watson. This has opened up a new and exciting research avenue for our students. Robotics, machine learning and cognitive computing are interesting and exploring fields of research today and our students are getting first hand experience of working in these fields," reiterated Dr. Vrushali Kulkarni, professor & head, Computer Engineering, MIT, Pune.

Mezjan Dallas, University Relations Leader, IBM India said, "This a great example of co-creation. You put great technology in the hands of bright and enthusiastic students, you give them freedom and a fun element and India’s next generation of engineers start to do magical things. This is the way in which innovation will happen in the future."