THE BUSINESS events arm of tourism organisation VisitScotland is looking to position Scotland at the forefront of the robotics industry with an event that will examine the future of the computer-human interaction.

InnovateRobotics, which will take place in St Andrews tomorrow, comes a month before 600 engineers and business people from around the globe will congregate in Edinburgh for the European Robotics Forum.

Rory Archibald, business development manager at VisitScotland Business Events, said the InnovateRobotics event would “shine a light on some of the outstanding developments being pioneered here in Scotland, both in our labs and in our seas”.

“Robotics is an exciting sector for Scotland, showcasing our innovation centres and excellence in research and manufacture,” he added.

The speakers at the event are University of St Andrews teaching fellow Dr Kasim Terzic, the head of marine technology at the Scottish Association for Marine Science Dr Phillip Anderson and Dr Oli Mival of Edinburgh Napier University.

Dr Terzic is an expert on the ability of robots to understand and communicate about the world surrounding them, Dr Anderson has developed a number of techniques to probe the winter-time polar atmosphere, and Dr Mival is an expert in human computer interaction, user experience and interaction design.

According to Dr Anderson Scotland “punches above its weight” in robotics and technology, allowing those working in the sector to become involved in a range of international collaborations.

Dr Terzic added that intelligent robotics “has always captured human imagination” and that as Scotland has a “strong tradition in robotics and education” it is well positioned to be at the forefront of the sector.