This virtual cop works wonders!

Visakhapatnam: This cop can shake hand, salute, speak 13 languages, register complaints, alert concerned investigating officers, update the status of the complaint, generate acknowledgment and also ensure quick disposal of cases.

Meet 'CYBIRA' (cyber security interactive robotic agent), the blue-capped virtual cop who entered Maharanipeta police station to greet curious eyes.

Designed at a cost of Rs.4.8 lakh, the city-based Robo Coupler Private Limited has come up with the robot for the department to ease the job of a cop.

The idea to design the robot began two years ago for the start-up company's CEO Praveen Malla.

"A couple of years ago, when I was interacting with the police as well as the complainants, the crux of the challenge they generally face is the time taken to register a First Information Report and dispose the complaints. CYBIRA aims to put an end to this ordeal," he narrates.

The robot can receive complaints either through voice or text. Interestingly, it is tuned to speak 13 languages, including Telugu, English, Malayalam and Odiya.

As soon as a complaint has been registered, an acknowledgment will pop up. An alert will also be sent to the concerned investigating officer to resolve the case in 24 hours.

"It is the first of its kind robot in the country where the disposal of a case is ensured in three working days from the time of its registration. If the complaint is not resolved in 24 hours, CYBIRA sets a revised deadline of 72 more hours.

If it remains unresolved, alerts will be sent to the concerned higher-ups about the pending status. It is programmed to get it escalated to the CMO as well," explains Praveen.

The robot has been launched in the city as a part of the pilot project. "With facial recognition technology, it can also identify the offenders entering a mall or railway station whose data has already been fed into it.

We have also requested for additional features to be included in it such as adoptive facial recognition with iris detection system.

After 15 days, we will get a clear picture of the tasks the robot can handle, including segregation of complaints," says Commissioner of Police R.K. Meena.

Based on its efficient performance, it won't be a big surprise if CYBIRA takes care of the department's weekly grievance redressal platform Spandana.