Engineering the Future: How Dubai Future Labs Is Shaping the City of Tomorrow

In an era where technology is rapidly transforming urban landscapes, Dubai Future Labs stands at the forefront of innovation, driving Dubai’s ambition to become a global leader in robotics and AI. As part of the Dubai Future Foundation, the lab is dedicated to designing solutions that not only advance technology but also enhance the quality of life in the city.

In this exclusive interview, our team sat down with Khalifa Al Qama, the Executive Director of Dubai Future Labs, to explore the lab's pioneering projects and the trends shaping the future of urban living. Our discussion delves into how Dubai Future Labs addresses the challenges of modern urban environments and what it means for the future of Dubai.

Join us as we explore the latest technological advancements and discover how Dubai Future Labs leads the charge in engineering the city of tomorrow.

We can find a lot of information about Dubai Future Labs, but first, we’d love to hear your perspective. What does Dubai Future Labs mean to you?

Dubai Future Labs is a project that started here in the Emirate of Dubai. It serves as a bridge between industry needs and the technologies that can address those needs. Our focus is on applied research, identifying where the industry aims to go, and helping it leverage the right technologies to achieve the benefits they envision.

Many agree that Dubai is truly a city of the future—a fact that few would dispute. With few regions or countries matching its rapid infrastructure and overall development, how would you evaluate Dubai's role in the global context of innovation and technology?

As cities worldwide evolve technologically, they naturally integrate into global clusters, each specialising in specific areas. This trend is not new; it has happened throughout history. In Dubai, we are focused on ensuring that our investments in technology are both relevant to our current ecosystem and aligned with future needs, which we will fully understand in the next five to ten years. Successful ecosystems, including Dubai's, rely on collaboration with other specialised ecosystems.

Dubai aims to become a global leader in technology and innovation. Dubai Future Labs, as part of the Dubai Future Foundation, plays a crucial role in this vision. How does Dubai Future Labs contribute to realising this ambitious goal?

Dubai Future Labs plays two critical roles in this vision. The government has set a direction at a high level. Dubai Future Foundation, as a whole, focuses on the RD&I (research, development, and innovation) ecosystem. Within that, Dubai Future Labs acts as the experimental or execution arm, taking part in the overall direction and validating or embellishing it with the necessary details on the ground.

Dubai Future Foundation has developed 'The Global 50' report, highlighting key opportunities for future growth, prosperity, and well-being. From your perspective, which technologies and innovations hold the most potential for positioning Dubai as a global leader in innovation?

Looking to the future, sustainability is paramount. We all seek a better life while preserving what we already have. This mindset is not only mine but is shared by the researchers who come in. They prefer working on projects that have a sustainability focus.

Technologies themselves are neither good nor bad; it's just how you use them. I would say this not out of bias, but from the expertise we possess. Autonomous systems, in my view, will be crucial for us moving forward.

Dubai Future Labs is developing several groundbreaking projects, including autonomous robotic systems and aerial vehicles. Recently, you also announced a partnership with Osaka University to conduct research in the field of cybernetic avatars. Which of these current and upcoming projects do you consider critical for establishing Dubai as a global innovation hub?

All of them, times ten. We need to do much more, in my opinion, because to become a global hub, you need a critical mass in specific domains. No one can definitively predict which will be the winner—you just never know.

Right now, we're making strategic bets with strong partners and ensuring that we expose the public to these technologies. This helps familiarise them and gather feedback, ensuring that what we're developing aligns with their expectations

Could you share which Lab’s projects you find most fascinating and why?

Mobility is one area that remains largely unexplored and unresolved. It covers a broad spectrum—whether inside buildings, outdoors, or within specialised fields like logistics, there’s still much work to be done. The importance of this is evident in how we’ve embraced services like delivery. We eagerly adopt services that promise faster delivery times, showing a clear demand for more innovation in this space.

Innovation, particularly in automation and robotics, is meant to ease tasks—especially those that are dangerous, dull, or dirty. Many such tasks still need to be automated, just as machines now handle tasks like breaking wood or bending metal.

The primary goal of your lab is "Designing robots that advance your life." What projects and initiatives do you consider the most important for ensuring a comfortable future for the residents of Dubai?

Comfort is highly subjective. What’s comfortable for one person might not be for another; we might not yet fully understand what this comfort level is. Our focus is on testing human interaction on a scale that hasn’t been attempted before, and with a diverse range of people.

Dubai is unique, with over 190 nationalities bringing a wide variety of perspectives. Testing human-machine interaction in such a diverse environment is crucial for us to truly understand and design what comfort means.

How are you currently integrating robots into the daily lives of Dubai's residents and visitors?

When we first started exploring human-machine interaction, we conducted a baseline survey to gauge society's acceptance of robots. Given our partnership with Japan, we ran the same survey there. To our surprise, the acceptance level in Dubai was very similar to Japan. The participants not only accepted robots but also had expectations for them. In other societies, people might be more hesitant or even resistant, as sometimes depicted in the media. However, in Dubai, people expect these systems to become a part of their lives and continue advancing.

How do you see the future of human-robot collaboration in Dubai’s urban environment?

I’m confident that autonomous systems will become essential in our societies over the next 20 to 50 years—this is almost inevitable. Just as cars became a must-have, we can expect the same with autonomous and robotic systems.

What’s crucial now is shifting the mindset, particularly among technical professionals. The old approach was to isolate robots for specific tasks, while humans did others. Moving forward, it will be about collaboration—a shift in design and thinking where robots and humans work together. Cobots and social robots are concepts that still require further study and development. We need to reach a point where these systems alleviate some of the tasks currently handled by humans.

Should we expect a machine uprising then?

If I’m honest, I don’t see that happening—ever. The moment you start programming a robot, you quickly realise how limited they are and how challenging it is to make them function as intended. I see robots like I see a car or a phone; they’re simply tools designed by humans for specific tasks. Some will excel, others won’t, but they’ll improve over time.

Twenty years ago, phones were very limited in their capabilities, but they have all progressed. Similarly, in another 20 years, these systems will advance. Right now, if you observe, people are mocking AI systems for their limitations. For example, they still struggle with simple tasks, like counting how many 'R's are in the word 'strawberry.' You can argue with them for half an hour, and they still won’t understand it.

Speaking of social robots, humanoid robots are a significant trend in today’s rapidly evolving robotics field. What do you think about the trend of humanoid robots, and what are your visions for their future applications?

I do believe humanoid robots will find their place in certain applications. It’s evident that they’re moving out of the research phase and entering the market. We should acknowledge that fact. However, I think their usage will be fairly limited over the next 10 years, though they will continue to proliferate.

As AI and robotics continue to advance, ethical considerations and risk mitigation become increasingly important. What measures are you implementing to ensure the safe and ethical deployment of robots?

We are developing an ethical framework by revisiting existing ones and adapting them to better align with our context here in Dubai. This framework will then guide the development of these systems. It’s crucial for us to be involved in the design process rather than distancing ourselves from it. We believe that active participation is key to ensuring these systems are developed responsibly

In the past two years, many companies have made significant strides in autonomous robotics—like ABB Robotics, Google DeepMind, Unitree’s humanoid robots, and Boston Dynamics. With competition intensifying, what unique features set your developments apart from others?

We are placing a strong emphasis on the reliability of these systems. It’s impressive to develop a robot that can perform specific tasks, but the real challenge comes when deploying it in critical environments, like airport operations or factories. These robots must be safe, reliable, and capable of performing their tasks without causing disruptions, especially when interacting with the public. Our significant research efforts focus on enhancing the robustness of these systems to meet these demands.

Your lab is deeply involved in applied research, particularly in robotics and AI. What new directions do you plan to explore in these fields in the near future?

In addition to our current projects, we are exploring robotics for extreme environments, such as harsh deserts, the sea, or even space. This specialised category has significant potential, and we’re already seeing market interest in developing use cases with economic value.

Partnerships are crucial in driving innovation. Which key partners and collaborations are most significant in advancing the work of Dubai Future Labs?

I believe there are two critical bridges essential for a thriving ecosystem. If these bridges are strong, the ecosystem will prosper; if not, challenges will arise.

The first bridge is the constant and nuanced communication between research labs and industry. The second is between research labs and universities, as these are distinct environments that operate very differently.

Labs like ours often act as a translation layer, bridging the needs and languages of industry and academia to translate technology into practical applications and inspire technological advancements. This is why we focus on capacity building, harnessing and enriching local expertise to meet the needs of future industries in robotics and automation.

Among these initiatives is Dubai Future Labs' Industrial PhD Program—a national talent development initiative in which DFL collaborates with leading global universities to host PhD students at its facilities and engage them in industry-relevant projects identified as central to Dubai's key future sectors.

Dubai's Research and Development Program aims to drive growth in key economic sectors and foster innovation. Achieving global leadership in this area is a hard task and requires overcoming various challenges. What are the main obstacles you foresee, and how does Dubai Future Labs turn these challenges into opportunities?

This task involves our lab, but it's really spearheaded by the Dubai Future Foundation as a whole. You're right—it's a hard task, one that could take a decade or even two or three to fully yield results. You'll start seeing signs within ten years, but it requires time. Some obstacles are common in any developing ecosystem. For instance, universities need the right infrastructure and talent pool to meet market and governmental goals. We're just beginning, so it requires significant effort to invest in equipment, build infrastructure, and attract the right talent. Another challenge is encouraging private sector players to develop a research mindset and collaborate with the ecosystem. This will take years for corporations to fully adopt, but it's something we're actively assisting with.

At Dubai Future Foundation, our strategy is bold yet clear: to propel Dubai 10 years ahead, shaping the city’s future through collective action and inspiring the world. This isn’t just about being 10 years ahead now, but continually staying ahead as we grow. We achieve this through our many divisions and projects, which include our data-driven research, applied R&D, but also hosting global gatherings for knowledge exchange and creating global futurist networks.

We convene global dialogue events, such as our annual Dubai Future Forum, which brings together the world’s top futurists. Partnerships are also formed to enhance knowledge sharing and dissemination. The research, events, and partnerships all contribute to identifying future opportunities. As a result, we design ambitious projects that support these findings, such as Dubai Future Labs, Dubai Future Academy, Dubai Future Accelerators, the Dubai Future District Fund, and one of the Foundation’s most tangible projects, the iconic Museum of the Future.

You mentioned that if we want to integrate technology successfully and achieve natural human-robot interaction, we need to change people's perceptions and opinions about different robotic systems. How did you manage to achieve this shift in perception?

I wish I could say for sure, but this is something we've observed rather than deliberately achieved. While it might seem like we've influenced views, I’m not entirely certain that's the case. In Asian societies, since the 60s, 70s, and 80s, literature often portrayed robots as companions or something positive. In contrast, Western portrayals are frequently more antagonistic, as seen in movies and culture. I’m not sure if this is a cultural phenomenon or something instigated intentionally. Interestingly, in Dubai, we seem to fall somewhere in between but lean more towards the Eastern perspective in how we view technology.