We humans love our robots. I know I do. Ever since my early years of munching Cheerios and watching The Jetsons, any movie or show that came along packing some kind of independently “thinking” robot instantly captured my attention. Hey, even all the Terminator robots-destroy-the-world pics haven’t put me off my android dreams.
Well, it looks like we all may have a chance to yank open that sci-fi door and invite the first live-in robot into our homes about a year from now. It’s true. If MIT professor and social robotics pioneer Dr. Cynthia Breazeal has her way, the age of “social robotics” is right around the corner. She and her company have created a robo-pal named Jibo that a lot of journalists have been mentioning lately.
OK, we’re not talking about your own personal nanny/housemaid Rosey the robot or a human-looking mechanical man who can bow politely and teach you Japanese. Jibo’s a bit more rudimentary than that. But if you watch the company’s infomercial, the little guy still looks pretty cool.
[View:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3N1Q8oFpX1Y:550:0]
Jibo is about a foot tall, with a cone-shaped body, a round head and 5.7-inch flatscreen “face.” It can sit up on a table or desk and look right at you with its blinking ball-projection “eye.” The J-man can’t get up and boogie, but its body can swivel around so that it can show pictures to anybody nearby, or take photos and movies at your request. And it’s ready to chat with you, too.
Yeah, sure, that part is admittedly still a little tough to swallow. But Breazeal has done a number of interviews where she stressed that lil’ Jibo is not simply an appliance but something closer to a companion. You know, a little wi-fi connected robotic guy who can read you your emails, check your Facebook page, order take-out, tell the kids stories (with picture/video onscreen support), keep track of appointments or medicine schedules and even perk up to give you a friendly notice when the time is right. And all with a wink and a smile.
When I hear that list of possibilities, well, suddenly the idea of people actually being able to create something like a family robot doesn’t sound all that outlandish and Star Wars-ish at all. Those are all things that your cellphone can sorta do right now—only with a whole lot less personality.
Of course, it’s that give-and-take personality part that’ll be the toughest programmable hurdle to jump. But if the MIT doc and her company can do it, we’ll be on our way to a new robo-horizon.
It would certainly be a small, first-step tickle of one of my long-term fancies. Next up, hover cars and teleportation! Woo-hoo!
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