All Robot, All Mega
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:
Spot is a four-legged, electrically powered robot with hydraulic legs. The sensor on Spot’s head enables it to navigate and negotiate rough terrain. Spot weighs approx. 75 kgs.
Note, their larger packbot, BigDog, has a gas-powered engine, not electric.
More at Wired.
Map Merge has explained how efficient Spot might be in a virtual 3D mapped environment.
One face, one neck, one eye. Jibo is a stationary robot suited to sitting on a table. He weighs 2.7 kilos and can run on battery-power for 30 minutes. So to some degree he can follow you around the house (if you carry him).
The first model, which will ship in 2015, will perform simple tasks like taking voice reminders, fielding phone calls and messages – connecting to the family’s phones through Wi-Fi. He will also act as the heart of the home connecting to iPads, TVs and games consoles. More complex skills include automatically identifying the faces in a room and taking pictures on request and reading a story to a child. New Scientist
I think the key selling point is that Jibo has artificial intelligence and will chat with you. Not conversations where you test the limits of his intelligence, but rather casual chit chat with an electronic family member.
Or will people love using it as their family photographer? See the video:
Or perhaps as an interface to your smart home.
Or to give you telepresence from afar.
Could take off, because they raised $2 million on a $100K goal via crowd-funding a few months back