Talk to the World Through Ubi -- and Use Gestures, Too (Video)

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Talk to the World Through Ubi -- and Use Gestures, Too (Video)

Posted by Roblimo on Tuesday January 13, 2015 @07:16AM from the not-quite-star-trek-but-getting-there dept.

'The Ubi is an always-on voice-activated computer ready to help. Just plug it in, talk to it and it'll help you connect with your world.' That Kickstarter project description back in 2012 helped UBI raise $229,594 even though they only hoped for $36,000. So now they sell Ubis for $299, as you can see for yourself by clicking the "BUY NOW" button in the upper right corner of www.TheUbi.com, their site's main page. A cynic might say that a decent Android phone can perform most Ubi functions, including a growing number of home automation control tasks, and that Android voice recognition gets better with each new release. But Ubi is cute, and round, and "you can talk through it to the ones you love."

That's great, but Android phones can do that, too. What a smartphone can't do is compete with Ubi Interactive, which may finally give us gesture-based computer input that is not only exciting in a Star Trek way, but is also practical for home and business use. This, along with Kinect, looks like a product that has a solid future ahead of it. (Alternate Video Link)

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wow by Anonymous Coward · 2015-01-13 07:19 · Score: 0

thats neat
This ad brought to you by DICE by Anonymous Coward · 2015-01-13 07:26 · Score: 1

n/t
Ubi is cute by fustakrakich · 2015-01-13 07:26 · Score: 2

Be very afraid when Slashdot starts saying 'cute' in its summaries of electronic devices. I just gagged a little..

--
“He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
1. Re:Ubi is cute by Anonymous Coward · 2015-01-13 07:39 · Score: 0
  
  Cute is a stretch, it looks like a big smoke detector to me.
2. Re:Ubi is cute by Anonymous Coward · 2015-01-13 07:41 · Score: 0
  
  Not to mention, it looks like a power supply.
3. Re:Ubi is cute by Anonymous Coward · 2015-01-13 07:43 · Score: 0
  
  agreed I thought it looked like a fan. cute is a stretch by far.
4. Re:Ubi is cute by RevWaldo · 2015-01-13 07:46 · Score: 1
  
  Needs a face to be cute. I see a Ubi / Furby maker project in the future.
  
  .
  
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  Prisencolinensinainciusol. Ol Rait!
5. Re:Ubi is cute by Selur · 2015-01-13 08:00 · Score: 1
  
  Not scared about slashdot reviews with 'cute', but seeing what is called 'cute' really scares me,...
  (if that thing is cute, what does a cute girl look like too you????)
6. Re:Ubi is cute by Anonymous Coward · 2015-01-13 08:22 · Score: 0
  
  My wife says I can't do AI projects anymore, might have something to do with the fact that I tend to program them with an evil "I'm going to kill you, Dave" kind of mentality. At any rate, an AI of my creation running on an UBI backend that's stuffed in a Furby...or a bunch of Furbies. It'll be like Critters with less teeth and more beaks! MUAA HAAAHA HAHAHHAHHAHHA!!!!
  -RavenLrd20K
  On a side note...why is it forcing me to do AC on this thread but I can post under my normal handle anywhere else? I've not moderated on this thread and there's no check box where I can choose who I'm posting as, unlike normally.
7. Re:Ubi is cute by narcc · 2015-01-13 08:36 · Score: 1
  
  This is Slashdot so I'm thinking 'fleshlight'.
  
  --
  Required reading for internet skeptics
8. Re:Ubi is cute by antdude · 2015-01-13 15:08 · Score: 1
  
  You're cute. :P
  
  --
  Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
9. Re:Ubi is cute by tehcyder · 2015-01-14 01:55 · Score: 1
  
  Be very afraid when Slashdot starts saying 'cute' in its summaries of electronic devices. I just gagged a little..
  That's why I block Apple stories. "Cute" might be nausea-inducing, but it's better than "sexy".
  
  --
  To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
10. Re:Ubi is cute by tehcyder · 2015-01-14 01:57 · Score: 1
  
  what does a cute girl look like too you????)
  As this is slashdot, probably two dimensional, hand drawn and with tentacles nearby.
  
  --
  To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
11. Re:Ubi is cute by Anonymous Coward · 2015-01-14 03:18 · Score: 0
  
  u logged in brah?
oh yea scam place kickstarter produced new scam by user.aaaaa · 2015-01-13 07:29 · Score: 0

congratulations
In other words: A "listening device" by gweihir · 2015-01-13 07:29 · Score: 1

While I possibly cannot keep the TLA scum out these days, I will not do their work for them...

--
Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
1. Re:In other words: A "listening device" by Nexion · 2015-01-13 07:49 · Score: 1
  
  Agreed, this thing is as creepy as creepy tech gets.
ubi website by Anonymous Coward · 2015-01-13 07:29 · Score: 0

i like the fact that ubi interactive doesn't use javascript to shit all over my browser.
Incoming lawsuit by tepples · 2015-01-13 07:30 · Score: 2

From Product: "USE ANY WINDOWS APPLICATION". Does it work with video games published by Ubisoft? For that matter, would video game publisher Ubisoft have solid grounds for a trademark lawsuit against the makers of this device?
nosir by Anonymous Coward · 2015-01-13 07:39 · Score: 0

That's not cute, and it's not round. It looks like a cheap plug-in air purifier. I cannot believe the price tag on it either! It's *not* cute! Who wrote this advertisement anyway? Jeezus.
1. Re:nosir by Anonymous Coward · 2015-01-13 07:54 · Score: 0
  
  Slashdot - The dream, is over
No Majel Barrett voice? by Ecuador · 2015-01-13 07:41 · Score: 1

That seems like a missed opportunity...
Oh, and thanks for the ad slashdot...

--
Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent. Polar Scope Align for iOS
1. Re:No Majel Barrett voice? by Anonymous Coward · 2015-01-13 08:13 · Score: 0
  
  Ad? Dude, they offer a 110% refund... if we all take them up on the offer, we could Slashdot them into bankruptcy.
2. Re:No Majel Barrett voice? by freeze128 · 2015-01-13 11:08 · Score: 1
  
  Well, she's been dead for at least 4 years before the Ubi project even started, so, uh, yeah.
3. Re:No Majel Barrett voice? by Anonymous Coward · 2015-01-14 04:49 · Score: 0
  
  It would be a synthesized voice in any case, it wouldn't require Majel Barrett to actually record on tape the full english language for Ubi.
Ouch, on the name choice. by Anonymous Coward · 2015-01-13 07:45 · Score: 1

Ubi is the software company (Ubisoft) famous for screwing their customers with DRM.
They also push for laws and behaviors that hurt consumers.
Remember "Friends do not let friends buy Ubi".
They would have been better off naming their product Syphilis instead of Ubi.
Seriously? by Anonymous Coward · 2015-01-13 07:47 · Score: 1

A product placement by Slashdot? Tell me money is not THAT tight that you have to resort to posting ads as articles all in the name of technology!
Tell me it ain't so.
CowboyNeal, where are you!!!!
Click the Ubi Interactive Link by Stardner · 2015-01-13 07:54 · Score: 1

Never mind what the device looks likeâ"Ubi Interactive is actually really cool. It's great to see technology coming out now that's doing things media has given more generous estimates of becoming widespread (20-30+ years from now).
1. Re:Click the Ubi Interactive Link by Anonymous Coward · 2015-01-13 11:47 · Score: 0
  
  You 'like' an always on computer Check
  With an always live mic Check
  Networked i assume ? check
  I think the word i need is hmm Twat
Second Amendment approved! by Thud457 · 2015-01-13 08:04 · Score: 1

Now with 100% more gorilla arm!

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the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Amazon's Echo? by Anonymous Coward · 2015-01-13 08:07 · Score: 0

They seem to share some similar features...
thats not cute. by Anonymous Coward · 2015-01-13 09:09 · Score: 0

thats not cute. That thing looks like dog shit. it's a shower drain stuck to an old mac mini.
ubi? by Anonymous Coward · 2015-01-13 09:48 · Score: 0

there's an ubi that is made by unified computer intelligence corporation, and then there's an ubi that's made by ubi interactive. one is based in toronto, and the other in seattle. does the poster have a hard-on for the word ubi?
Ubi is cute by Anonymous Coward · 2015-01-13 10:20 · Score: 0

Be very afraid when Slashdot starts saying 'cute' in its summaries of electronic devices. I just gagged a little..
Sounds like an ad.
So... by Anonymous Coward · 2015-01-13 11:04 · Score: 1

This is how you get past adblockers. Very sneaky.
Kiss the gesture control goodbye..... by dbreeze · 2015-01-13 11:45 · Score: 1

http://apple.slashdot.org/stor...
Did Apple know something, or Ubi not know?

--
When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law he tore his robes.2Kings22:11
1. Re:Kiss the gesture control goodbye..... by gl4ss · 2015-01-14 01:23 · Score: 1
  
  well they both just watched kinect adverts and went from there.
  
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  world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
Me using my ubi by Anonymous Coward · 2015-01-14 06:06 · Score: 0

Link to me using my ubi
Some response programming was done to achieve the conversation I wanted
http://youtu.be/UlRgtIe6zuQ