Festival curated and organized by Knowliom

Curious people of all ages came out in groves to get a glimpse into the world’s most advanced and newest technologies at the Robotic and Artificial Intelligence Festival that took place during a two-part event series earlier this year at the newly unveiled The Qassim Science Center. The festival series was sponsored by the Ministry of Information and Technology, as a part of the ministry’s strategic program to advance the nation’s tech sector forward, called Think Tech. Advanced technologies delighted over 15,000 visitors in the town of Unaizah, Saudi Arabia where the public initiative was open to the community for free entry. Festival visitors also received full access to the science museum that features seven expansive galleries covering a variety of STEM topics from Islamic Civilization and Medicine to emerging technologies.

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Most festival visitors witnessed inventions for the first time, challenging guests to rethink the way we may one day go about our daily lives. Festival seekers were greeted by a host robot who encouraged fluid conversation in Arabic, speaking on a variety of topics from tourism, health and pop culture. Families, couples, and school groups from around the region of Qassim were encouraged to explore and immerse themselves throughout the 600 square meter event space, broken up into 3 experience zones:

• 3D Printing Zone: Rows of 3D printers were available for experimental development, from letters, shapes and edible delights. Visitors were invited to create their own physical inventions from digital files. The zone also featured a reverse engineering technology section to showcase how objects may be redesigned for more efficiency. 
• Artificial Intelligence Zone: A utopian style smart home setup provided guests with a glimpse into how AI gadgets are impacting the way people eat, clean, and protect themselves through future sustainable technologies for home wellbeing. 
• Robot Zone: Robotic arms, dogs, humanoids, cameras, soccer fields, and AR gadgets delighted crowds who were invited to immerse themselves into the newest robotic applications currently available. 

In addition to the 3 zones, the festival offered a series of half-hour workshops relating to various technologies, beyond those featured in the zones, from ioT, blockchain, and quantum computing. The venue also provided groups with a leisure area where food trucks, pop-up coffee shops and lounge space could accommodate festival goers. 

The festival was curated and organized by Knowliom, a Riyadh based agency that specializes in museum management, edutainment and informal educational programming. Adil Khan, Digital Fabrication Expert at Knowliom and Lead Festival Curator said, “It was essential to our team that we provide an awe inspiring guest experience while at the same time showcasing how real and accessible these inventions are and how they may improve our quality of life. Furthermore,  Most festivals and gatherings of this caliber are hosted in the capital city of Riyadh, therefore it was an honor to bring cutting edge technology inventions and hands-on experiences into a relatively remote region of Saudi Arabia.”

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