From ‘Rosie’, the Jetsons housekeeper robot, to the robot from Lost in Space, the idea of a family robot has long been associated with the ‘future’. Now it appears the ‘future’ has arrived.
Meet ‘Jibo’, the word’s first family robot. Looking like a cross between an Apple product (think clean white lines) and a cute and non-threatening version of Hal 9000, the robot from Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, Jibo looks set to give Siri a run for her money.
So what does a family robot do?
Unfortunately there’s nothing on the Jibo website about making beds and washing dishes, but it looks like Jibo has more of the tech related and personal assistant stuff sorted.
Jibo features two hi-res cameras that can recognise and track faces, capture photos, and enable immersive video calling. Just think, no more using the timer on your camera to get the perfect family shot, just get Jibo to take the photo for you. Plus, as Jibo can track faces, and can move around to follow the action, everyone can enjoy the special family moments, while Jibo shoots your family videos like a pro.
With 360° microphones and natural language processing built in, interactions with Jibo are all done via natural voice commands. You can ask Jibo to order takeaway food for you, or what’s on your calendar for the day, plus Jibo himself will ‘talk’ to you, for example, reading text messages aloud to you and reminding you about upcoming appointments appropriately.
Jibo can even help your kids with their reading. He can read stories complete with sound effects, graphics and physical movements to make storytime a responsive and interactive experience.
The aim of Jibo is to make ‘humanise’ technology, making it a ‘helper’ rather then just a tool. This means that Jibo will, through Artificial Intelligence algorithms, ‘learn’ to adapt to your family’s preferences fit into your lives. And Jibo understands and communicates using natural social and emotive cues just like a human.
Jibo is currently available on pre-order from the Jibo website, with the release date and availability currently scheduled at December 2015.
Would your family like a robot?
No comments:
Post a Comment