All Robot, All Mega
It’s not your walking, talking type of robot. But it does one thing very well and could end up being in a lot of homes.
Caia sits in one place (outside or by a window) and turns a mirror so that sunlight is always being reflected into the same part of the same room all day. It is solar powered and weatherproof. All you need to do is buy it for $229 and spend 1 minute setting it up.
Then your gloomy room will be filled with natural light, forever.
Built by DARPA, obviously a legged robot has advantages over its wheeled counterparts. While wheels will always be the choice for moving fast on flat surfaces (that’s why we drive cars), this will be the go for all the places we can’t drive cars or ride skateboards.
Full story at Mashable
We have an instant winner right here, dependant on price… A robot that just follows you about and carries your stuff for you. Looks cool too. Not surprisingly it is created by Piaggio, who also make Vespa scooters.
It can move at 22mph (in other words, follow you on your bike) and the battery can last 8 hours.
Downsides, won’t handle stairs very well, and its storage space is roughly that of a large backpack. So it just needs more storage and legs to be perfect. Or flying…
Read more at Mashable
This leaked video tells you everything you need to know
From Boston Dynamics (who else?)
Z-Machines are a “power trio” consisting of March, a 78-fingered guitarist; Ashura, a drummer with 22 arms; and Cosmo, a keyboardist who triggers notes with lasers. [Source: Guardian]
I think this band should tour, they’d certainly get crowds – although if it were me in the audience I doubt I would last more than 2-3 songs.
This story dates back to 2011. I can’t believe it was never released as a toy.
I figure there are enough of these now that they will soon be the norm. They are almost certainly cheaper than humans…
This is Starwood’s Robot Butler, which can deliver small items such as toothpaste.
Professionally “dressed” in a custom shrink-wrapped, vinyl collared uniform and nametag, A.L.O. will modestly accept tweets as tips as its wheels whizz from task to task. [Starwood Hotels]
There are hotels and resorts toying with robotics, but Henn-na Hotel is all or nothing:
It seems possible that your entire stay could be without human contact.
Telepresence robots will become more popular with time, as will robot vacuum cleaners. iRobot makes both. The Ava 500 has:
While similar products are basically an iPad on a stick with wheels, the screen on the Ava 500 is 21.5 inches.
Robots certainly won’t be replacing many retail assistants, because in most stores people want to browse, they want opinions, and they need to be sold on an item.
However, a hardware store is different – most customers already know what they want. The OSHbot can 3D scan an example of the product, or converse with you in multiple languages, and then take you to to where the product is located in the store: