MESA: An AI-Powered Social Robot

At this exhibit, visitors will meet MESA, an AI-powered social robot designed to interact naturally with people and support everyday life on a university campus. The experience begins at the Introduction Hub, where visitors are introduced to MESA's story, why it was created and how social robots could help build stronger, more responsive communities at RIT. Through brief visuals and explanations, visitors learn how advances in artificial intelligence, robotics, and computer vision allow machines to perceive and interact with people in increasingly human-like ways. From there, visitors move into the Interaction Zone, where they meet MESA in action. Using computer vision, MESA can recognize faces, track movement, and engage visitors in a live conversation. Guests can ask MESA questions about RIT, its programs, and campus life. Because MESA's responses are grounded in a curated knowledge base built from RIT's digital resources, it can provide answers that are relevant to the university's culture, global locations, and community. MESA also communicates physically. The humanoid robot can perform hand gestures and mirror simple movements, making the interaction feel more natural and expressive. Visitors will see how combining speech, movement, and visual perception allows robots to communicate in ways that feel closer to human social interaction. During the interaction, a nearby display screen reveals MESA's inner vision. Visitors can watch in real time as the robot's computer vision system detects faces, interprets gestures, and processes visual information to guide its responses. This behind-the-scenes view helps demystify how AI and robotics systems perceive the world around them. Finally, the exhibit introduces MESA's role as a smart feedback tool. By analyzing patterns in anonymous conversational data, systems like MESA could help universities better understand student questions, concerns, and needs, ultimately informing improvements to campus services and communication. Overall, the exhibit offers a hands-on opportunity to explore how artificial intelligence, robotics, and human-centered design can come together to create more interactive and responsive environments. Visitors will leave with a deeper understanding of how social robots like MESA could become helpful companions in future campuses, workplaces, and public spaces.