This `Chatterbot', and a suite of smart next-generation gadgets, has been developed by NIIT's Centre for Research in Cognitive Systems (CRCS) headed by Sugata Mitra and located in the premises of Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi.

The interactive Bots (short for robot) can spawn a smarter genre of web search engines which will have the capability of interpreting, understanding and customising the searches closer to what the surfer may be looking for. Similarly, these can revolutionise children's education due to the chat feature.

Incidentally, NIIT first deployed the Chatterbot as a potential front-office counsellor at its Connaught Place training centre sometime ago. "Since cognitive character of the robot plays a central role, it gradually developed a rich database of the questions asked to it. Over aperiod, it acquired a personality of its own and we are now considering to deploy it as a virtual counsellor," said Mitra.

These Chatterbots represent the next level of artificial intelligence, robots with a cognitive mind, which mirror the personality of its creator and adapt and grow with the environment, in this case, Mitra.

As the web traffic rises exponentially, Chatterbot's answering capabilities can play a useful role as it is autonomous and has a `mind of its own', developed over the years by `chatting' with Mitra.

The basic elements of the Chatterbot are a speech engine, semantic network, database and the adaptive interface. Adding speech is only incidental.

According to Mitra, there exist about eight such Bots today worldwide and the commercial use of the technology is yet to start. NIIT is the only company from Asia to have developed such a system.

"Cognitive systems have to translate into industrial applications eventually. Cognitive systems are those in which behaviour changes in anadaptive and proactive manner in response to and in anticipation of changes in the environment and user characteristics," is how Mitra defined it.

CRCS has also developed several other smart gadgets like the remote camera and remote vehicle which have software embedded system as their heart. Highly field-applicable, these products will, however, be ready for commercial application in two years.

Such internet devices represent the cutting edge technology presently available only in labs the like of MIT, Carnegie-Mellon or NASA in the US.

In fact remote camera started as a hobby product. These days, webcams can be found aplenty on the net with which you can virtually visit the place. "But the cameras employed therein are static."