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Dr. Robot Watches Over Home And More
jverbov writes "A Canadian firm has created what they call an 'intellgent personal robotic companion.' It can be wirelessly connected to your home Internet connection, has a built-in camera and speech recognition software. There's a recent article about it at the Toronto Star." This thing promises a lot, and while the price is steep, it's a lot cheaper than some other household robots due out.
About time something came along to keep watch over my Aibo!
Since it's canadian, it won't have a built-in gun, thus removing much of whatever appeal it may have for gun-crazy yankees.
A whole new way of having fun, send your personal robot onto the streets to War-chalk for you.
"I didn't do it officer, you just can't trust robots these days"
An Eye for an Eye will make the whole world blind - Gandhi
In patrol mode, the bipedal robot acts as a home security system, scoping out your house for intruders. If the robot's thermal sensors detect a human in the house, the robot can e-mail to the owner or call them on their cell phone.
[AOL voice] You've got Intruders! [/AOL voice]
in girum imus nocte et consumimur igni
I think we will have reached the pinacle of home robotics when I go to get my 3am Ice Cream and the fridge says "I'm sorry, I can't do that Dave".
I live in a giant bucket.
>>"But he said it was important to make the robot look as human as possible, so people would think it was smart."
-I beg to differ.
"-You see here the problem is somwhere between the keybaord and the chair"
robot: looks around cautiously... then darts for the woods, free at last!
I really like the idea of Canadian robots
Extreme robotic hockey?
Of course, until they make robotic horses, they can't make law enforcement robots.
The government also can't sponsor development in most normal computer languages, because so far there hasn't been a language with commands in French and English.
I've had enough abrasive sigs. Kittens are cute and fuzzy.
If my kids are going to be anything like the kids that I hope they will be, they will:
1) Jam the Robot's wireless frequency
2) Hack the firmware and play a loop-back video of them doing homework.
3) Rewrite AI in Aibo and the robot to deathmatch mode and take bets.
etc
but realistically, kids will probabbly
1) knock robot down with chair, accidentally or otherwise
2) sit on it, accidentally or otherwise
3) spray ketchup onto it, accidentally or otherwise
4) go swimming with it, accidentally or otherwise
you get the idea
either way - to make a robot "kids proof" is a tall order - i am not sure if this flimsy looking thing fills it.
My life in the land of the rising sun.
If it's that hard to tell, time for new clothes.
"If the robot's thermal sensors detect a human in the house, the robot can e-mail to the owner or call them on their cell phone."
*ring ring
Owner: "Hello?"
Robot: "A warm humanoid mass is robbing your house. Video has been sent to your email, enjoy. Thank you for choosing Dr. Robot."
--"The perfect example of the man of action is the suicide." - William Carlos Williams
IV. Personalities and Emotions
In addition, Dr Robot Inc. has planned to develop unique personalities and emotions of the robot based on the relationship with its owner. Personalities such as playful and shy, as well as emotions (such as happiness, sadness, fear, dislike, surprise, and anger) can be expressed by the robot via sophisticated voice synthesis and body language to hold intelligent conversation with its owner and other people.
Great - the mechanized psycho home companion ...
Give a robotic vagina ... (*drool*) every nerds dream
You know times are tough when you need a doctoral degree simply to be an evil robot slave.
- A.P.
"Remember when the U.S. had a drug problem, and then we declared a War On Drugs, and now you can't buy drugs anymore?"
Degraded child: "Mommy Mommy! Mr. Robot is telling us bad bedtime stories again!"
--"The perfect example of the man of action is the suicide." - William Carlos Williams
Now if the handshake dosen't work out, telnet into the guys robot and beat him up.
"I propose we leave math to the machines and go play outside" -- Calvin
"your plastic pal who's fun to be with" but they didn't want to be the first against the wall...
Or it walks out of range of the wireless base station?
That's easy: as soon as the signal fades completely, the robot will walk backwards along its path until it is back in range.
If the access point fails for some reason, the robot will simply walk with its right leg but not the left, resulting in a Curly (Three Stooges) sort of spin. Sound effects are optional.
I want to drag this out as long as possible. Bring me my protractor.
Is it too early to start thinking about laws of robotics? As in how asimov depicted? Perhaps with a few additions, eg A Robot shall not watch someone change except where this conflicts with the first three laws!!
this humanoid robot stands just 60 centimetres tall
If this thing tries to sneak up on me, it will be uploading footage to the internet of itself flying accross the room after one swift kick.
> Is connecting an AI unit to the NET really an ethically responsible thing to do?
Its certainly more ethical than connecting it to dot-NET!
"Old man yells at systemd"
The american ones would most likely contain algorhythms on how to use shot guns, then would malfunction, and kill us all in our sleep...
Reece,
More likely, they'll break in, trash the joint, and steal the cool looking robot thingy. It'll be found stripped for parts in an alley in Mexico (or sold into prostitution, one of othe two).
ROBO MOD TIME!!! Just add some neon and a few windows...d00d! /\/\y 31337 m0dd3d r0b0t r0x0rz!!!!
Now to add water cooling and overclock that sucka...
Knowledge is power. Knowledge shared is power multiplied.
Cute, but most of the 'features' they list are just gimmicks, a list of reasons a guy can use to justify the purchase to his wife. "But honey, it'll, uh, protect the children! From terrorists!" The Roomba, on the other hand, has a practical application. I'll probably get a second generation one assuming some good improvements are made.
These people aren't trying to make anything useful, they're trying to make an expensive toy similar to the the robot dogs. A robot that was self-sufficient and could learn things (like how to operate my refrigerator door) would be worth the price. And no, I don't want my robot to look like some kind of astronaut. Have you seen Honda's asimo bot? If I was sitting by myself at night and turned around to see that thing I'd probably piss myself, it looks like an evil midget in a space suit, or HAL 9000 with legs... creepy.
Just give me a robot with enough memory and the right software to learn things, I'll do the teaching myself. "Robut, fill the humidifier." "Robut, take out the trash." "Robut, clean the toilet."
And another thing, who wants their robot to have 'emotions'? There's only one emotion I need from it; humble servitude. I don't need another expensive and emotional toy, I already have a girlfriend. (Ba dum, ching!)
Great, I'm going to shell out all that cash, get it home, and be greeted with "I'm soooooooooooooooooo depressed. Here I am, a brain the size of a planet, and he wants me to go fetch beer..."
Has Douglas taught us NOTHING?? Forget Asimov, Adams people, Adams!
"They do not preach that their god will rouse them, a little before the Nuts work loose." Kipling, 'The Sons of Martha'
As the article is from the Toronto Star the figures are in Canadian dollars, so the price in in the U.S. will really be about $3.50.
RTFM; please, I beg you.
it could report you to the RIAA for downloading songs, or start the next "klez variant" outbreak, even record your "extra carricular activities" to play back for your girlfriend.
:)
That technology has been around for ages. I just call it my little brother. Little bastard.
Where does the school board find them and why do they keep sending them to ME?
Obviously, they don't have a decent marketing dept. If they knew what they were doing, they would partner with RealDoll and sell about 100 times more of these things.
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