Last July year, neverMaker of the search engine known as “Google of South Korea” opened Its new second headquarters, Naver 1784. The building’s name refers to a year usually associated with the Industrial Revolution. Inside you’ll find a testament to the growing global impact of automation, in the form of 100 autonomous robots.
Robots, called Juniors, You can move around and deliver packages, coffee and lunch to Naver employees, all with 5G. They also have their own elevator for robots only, Roboport. Naver Laboratories, the company’s R&D department was launched, using the new headquarters as a test bed for the entry-level. Next November, it will arrange the robots in its new data center, jack sejong, In South Korea.
Image credits: never
I visited the site last year to see the bots firsthand. Rookies move through every inch of the headquarters, while… Robot arms painted pictures. Naver already has a wide range of subsidiaries, offering services such as e-commerce, messaging, payments, digital comics, cloud, and Metaverse. And just last week, the company Generative AI services launched Built on its massive language model, HyperClova X, it joins the space AI race.
Does the internet giant want to expand robotics, artificial intelligence and self-driving technology beyond its current business to drive its future growth? When asked about her ongoing projects, Naver said she is working on them A bunch of projects has been focusing on robotics, autonomous driving technology and artificial intelligence, through its R&D department since 2013. Six years ago, it Acquires Xerox Research Center Europe (XRCE) in Grenoble, France, which specializes in research in artificial intelligence, machine learning, computer vision and natural language processing, to enhance its research and development. After the acquisition, it became XRCE Naver Laboratories.
The company believes that people living in such innovative environments will benefit from Naver Labs projects – including robotics – in the not-so-distant future. The Internet search engine wants to participate in the new type of platform, bots, that it believes it can Someday replace cell phones.
Naver LaboratoriesThe research targets five areas: robotics (around, About G And Ambidex), Amnesty International (ARC system), digital twin (Both And High-resolution hybrid mapping), computer vision / augmented reality (Indoor navigation with augmented reality And Before) And Self-driving technology.
At last week’s Naver AI Conference, TechCrunch sat down with Naver Labs Europe (NLE) Science Director, Martin Homberger, to learn about Naver Labs’ mission and ongoing projects.
“Our long-term vision is to create robots that are useful in everyday life,” Homenberger tells TechCrunch. “This includes assistive robots in the home, hospitals, museums, malls, airports, etc. In the short term, we are focusing on last-mile delivery applications in cities and smart buildings.”
Most of its long-term projects have not yet been commercialized. However, its ongoing research and the latest technologies are constantly being applied to improve the performance of Naver’s robots, Rookies, in Building 1784 and the Gak Data Center. In addition, it provides Android as a Service (RaaS) to NeverCloud platformHomenberger adds.
One example of RaaS is ARC system Powered by Naver cloud platform. Arch, an intelligence system for robots, enables Naver beginners to see, recognize and act. ARC is not just a control system for robots. It’s the eyes and mind of the robots, which means beginners don’t need access to a GPS; Instead of that, Ain Ark It helps them get to know their surroundings, while providing the most efficient route. This is according to Vision Group Leader at Naver Labs Korea, Donghwan Lee, who is leading the ARC Eye project. Meanwhile, ARC Brain connects the service infrastructure in real-time and updates data and algorithms in the cloud for robots. Lee added that Building 1784’s starters don’t need a built-in operating system thanks to their cloud connection that powers the ARC system that controls the robots. Naver says the ARC system can reduce robot manufacturing costs and battery consumption by moving the tasks the robots have to handle to the cloud.
![](https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Naver-1784-robot-Rookie.jpg?w=680)
Image credits: never
Homenberger says both Naver Labs in South Korea and France have some clear common goals, but there are others working in parallel. Collaboration is based on information and sharing of progress so that common goals can be identified.
while Naver Laboratories Europe (NLE) focuses its research on “the fundamentals of artificial intelligence and how to overcome current and future challenges in artificial intelligence,” and Naver Labs Korea (NLK) researches and develops robotics, Systems engineering And Platform engineering He adds that operations.
The primary research area of NLE is artificial intelligence technology for robotics. NLE is developing “next-generation computer vision methods for robot perception,” which help robots better understand the environment, and “new methods for sequential decision making and combinatorial optimization, which enable robots to navigate unknown environments or perform complex manipulation tasks.” Homenberger explains. NLE is also building technology that allows effective interaction between robots and humans via language.
![](https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/974A9138.jpg?w=300)
Image credits: Naver Labs/Martin Humenberger, Director of Science at Naver Labs Europe
To make Naver bots versatile assistants, NLE is developing AI-powered computer vision, machine learning for bots, and natural language processes.
“It is true that we rely a lot on AI-powered computer vision to better understand the world (semantics and geometry), reinforcement learning to teach robots to perform tasks, and natural language processing and information retrieval to make knowledge (text, images, etc.) available to our robots.” ,” Humenberger tells TechCrunch.
It gives an example of a concrete research activity related to basic models of the real world, Croco. CroCo is a basic 3D model in one image. “It is designed to understand the 3D world using images,” Homenberger said, adding that it is not intended for generative AI or large language models but for robots and digital twins. “At Naver Labs, we use CroCo as an advanced robotic perception module for tasks such as localization, navigation, and human-robot interaction.”
“We have a huge testbed where we can develop robots and operate them in the real world, highly skilled engineers and researchers, and a robust cloud infrastructure,” Homenberger explains. “It is very difficult to secure even one of these conditions, and it is safe to say that Naver is the only company equipped with all of these conditions.”
NLE has more than 100 researchers and scientists in areas of artificial intelligence, ranging from basic machine learning to user experience, according to Homenberger. Naver Labs did not disclose the number of employees in Korea due to confidentiality issues.
Giant South Korean technology companies, such as Samsung, LG, Hyundai And DusanThey work in the field of robotics development, from industrial robots to cooking, service, and delivery robots Injecting capital into robotics. Earlier this year, Samsung said It plans to launch the EX1 robot to help elderly people exercise Its research department Developed by Samsung Android platform. Doosan Robotics, the robotics unit of Korean manufacturer Doosan, has filed for an initial public offering, according to its filing.
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