Sverri Hjaltsundr
Sverri Hjaltsundr (12 March 1929–30 October 2020) was a Hverlandic roboticist, academic, author and futurist. He was the founder of the Hverlandic Institute of Robotics (today the Hverlandic Centre for Roboticism) and the author of several books on robotics and artificial intelligence. He was a professor of robotics at the University of Hverland from 1965 until his retirement in 2009. He was a pioneer in the field of robotics and artificial intelligence and was known for his work on the development of the first autonomous robots.
Despite his academic success, Sverri was a controversial figure. He was a vocal critic of the Hverlandic government and was known for his radical ideas on the future of technology and society. He believed that any restrictions on the development of technology were harmful and that the growth of humanity was entirely dependent on technological progress. He was a proponent of transhumanism and believed that the integration of technology into the human body was essential for the survival of the human race. His ideas and work came to be known as Sverrism.
Sverri was notorious for his apoliticism and his refusal to engage in political debates, preferring to focus on his work and research. Repeated attempts to recruit him into political parties or establish his own party were unsuccessful. A short-lived attempt to establish a political party based on his ideas in 1994 failed to gain any traction after Sverri publicly disavowed it. After his retirement in 2009, Sverri became increasingly reclusive and spent most of his time in his private laboratory in Qarnstyrv, a remote settlement in the mountains of the East Region. He continued to publish books and articles on robotics and artificial intelligence until his death in 2020.
After his death, Sverri’s ideas and work gained a new following, and several political parties and movements emerged that were based on his ideas. The most notable of these is the Spirit of Innovation, a Sverrist political party that won 6 seats in the 2025 general election. The party’s leader, Hjorleifur Hjorleifursundr, was a protege of Sverri.