Page 24 - aruba-today-20180811

A24 TECHNOLOGY
Saturday 11 auguSt 2018
Robots are getting more social. Are humans ready?

By MATT O'BRIEN pretty important.) Though
AP Technology Writer there's plenty of disagree-
BOSTON (AP) — Personal ment over what makes the
home robots that can so- proper balance.
cialize with people are Fall short on personality,
starting to roll out of the and "you better be per-
laboratory and into our liv- fect because the moment
ing rooms and kitchens. But you make a mistake, you're
are humans ready to invite going to be the big lum-
them into their lives? bering robot that made a
It's taken decades of re- mistake," Sofman said. But
search to build robots people can forgive errors
even a fraction as sophis- so long as the robot reacts
ticated as those featured in a realistic way.
in popular science fiction. Anki hired animators from
They don't much resemble Pixar and DreamWorks to
their fictional predecessors; give character to Cozmo
they mostly don't walk, only and Vector. Israeli startup
sometimes roll and often Intuitions Robotics brought
lack limbs. And they're no- on prominent industrial de-
where close to matching signer Yves Behar to help
the language, social skills craft the look of ElliQ, which
and physical dexterity of In this Monday, July 30, 2018, photo, Anki Inc. CEO Boris Sofman holds Vector, the company’s new is designed for seniors. The
people. home robot, in New York. robot is expected to launch
Worse, they're so far los- Associated Press next year.
ing out to immobile smart "We were looking for an
speakers made by Ama- Its creator, MIT robotics re- are even less affordable. on a tabletop until it hears aesthetic that will earn the
zon, Apple and Google, searcher Cynthia Breazeal, "You cannot sell a robot a door open or, using facial right to be part of people's
which cost a fraction of told The Associated Press at for $800 or $1,000 that has recognition, "sees" a famil- life for a long period of
what early social robots do, the time that "there's going capabilities of less than an iar person in view. It purrs time, not just a gadget or
and which are powered to be a time when every- Alexa," said Boris Sofman, when you rub its gold-plat- a toy," said Dor Skuler, Intu-
by artificial-intelligence sys- body will just take the per- CEO of Anki, which plans ed back. ition's founder and CEO.
tems that leave many ro- sonal robot for granted." to launch its pet-like Vector Social robots trace their lin- Instead of cute, ElliQ aims
bots' limited abilities in the That time has not yet ar- this fall. eage back to an interactive for calm. Designed to sit
dust. rived. Promising a robotic future humanoid head named on an end table, the robot
That hasn't stopped am- Jibo, a foot-high, vaguely beyond "puck-like vacuum Kismet, which Breazeal built is shaped like a rounded
bitious robot-makers from conical device topped cleaners and lifeless cy- in an MIT lab in the 1990s. table lamp with a circular
launching life-like robots by a wide hemispherical lindrical talking speakers," Since then, advances in light shining from inside its
into the market — albeit "head," stays where you Anki is pitching the $249 artificial intelligence have translucent plastic head. It
with mixed results so far. put it, typically on a coun- Vector as an older brother propelled the field forward. swivels frequently, direct-
Two pioneers in a new van- tertop. But it can swivel its to its tiny — and feisty — toy The popularity of Alexa and ing attention to the person
guard of cute, sociable ro- flat, round screen "face" robot Cozmo. its ilk has also helped take it's speaking with, and has
bots — Jibo, a curvy talking to meet your gaze; tells Both robots are tiny enough the strangeness out of talk- an adjacent tablet screen
speaker, and Kuri, a car- joke and plays music; and to fit in your palm. They ing machines. to show off photos or text
toonish wheeled "nanny" — can shimmy convincingly if scoot around on tank The key for Vector and messages.
have been early casualties. you ask it to dance. It was Many researchers say so-
The makers of Vector, a less pitched as "the world's first cial robots hold great
expensive home robot that social robot for the home." promise in helping an ag-
was unveiled Wednesday, At almost $900, though, ing population. Such ro-
hope theirs will be a bigger Jibo didn't win anywhere bots could remind seniors
hit. near enough friends. It's still to take medicine, prompt
Still others, including a ru- for sale online, but its parent them to get up and move
mored Amazon project company reportedly laid or visit others, and help
and robots designed to off much of its workforce in them stay in better touch
provide companionship June and didn't reply to re- with extended family and
for senior citizens, remain in quests for comment. friends.
the development phase. "It's a really cool device, For the robots to catch on
"I think we're going to start but it didn't offer a ton of across all ages, though,
seeing some come to mar- utility," Singh said. they need to prove them-
ket this year," said Vic Singh, In late July, another startup, selves useful and helpful,
a founding general partner California-based Mayfield said James Young, a re-
of Eniac Ventures, which Robotics, ceased manu- searcher at the University
has invested in several ro- facturing Kuri, a roving $699 In this Nov. 21, 2017, photo Massachusetts Institute of Technolo- of Manitoba's human-com-
botics startups. But they'll machine that would shoot gy robotics researcher Cynthia Breazeal, left, stands next to so- puter interaction lab.
be limited to very specific pictures and video from cial robot Jibo, right, at the company's headquarters in Boston. "Whether that's by helping
uses, he warned. cameras hidden behind its Associated Press with loneliness, helping with
Hopes for social robots keep round, blinking eyes. Other tasks like cooking, that's
outpacing reality. Late last home robots, such as the treads and chirp more than other companion robots, key," he said. "Once peo-
year, the squat, almost fea- three-foot, video-screen talk, but Vector can answer experts say, is to strike the ple are convinced some-
tureless Jibo graced the equipped personal assis- basic questions, set a timer right balance between thing is useful or actually
cover of Time Magazine's tant Temi ($1,499) and So- or deliver messages from usefulness and personality. saves them time, they're
"best inventions" edition. ny's dog-like Aibo ($1,800), email and texts. It can rest (Affordability also seems really good at adapting."q