NAVER LABS Europe Robotics Workshop Shows AI Models

GRENOBLE, France — NAVER LABS Europe announced it held its fourth "AI for Robotics" workshop on Nov. 20–21, with approximately 150 researchers in attendance.

The workshop, held biennially since 2019, focused on spatial AI, which the company described as technology that enables robots to interpret three-dimensional environments by processing information about object locations, movements, and relationships.

Andrew Davison, a professor at Imperial College London credited with proposing the spatial AI concept, attended the event with researchers from 26 countries, according to NAVER LABS Europe.

The research unit presented two artificial intelligence models at the workshop.

DUSt3R-2 is a revised version of DUSt3R, which the company released in December 2023.

The original model reconstructed three-dimensional spaces from photographs. According to the company, the updated version integrates derivative research and is intended for commercial use.

The second model, ANNY, generates human body representations using anthropometric data from the MakeHuman community and World Health Organization population statistics.

According to the company, the system models body types across age ranges without collecting personal information.

NAVER LABS Europe made ANNY available as open-source software on Nov. 6.

Martin Humenberger, head of NAVER LABS Europe, stated the unit is developing and combining foundation models for spatial intelligence applications.

The Grenoble facility has worked on foundation models for robotics since 2021, applying them to vision, action, and interaction projects.

The company stated it is developing a unified foundation model.

Dong-hwan Lee, a NAVER LABS official, stated the organization has conducted spatial intelligence and physical AI research since 2016, with testing at the company's 1784 facility in South Korea.

NAVER LABS Europe stated it has applied foundation models to robot decision-making for navigation and task allocation.