Apparently this year's CES completely blew people's minds when they got a look at all the cool exciting new robots due to hit the market this year. At bare minimum it looks like getting directions in shopping malls is going to be a whole lot easier assuming these robots get a shot at helping folks!
Information robots took over the robot section of the show floor this year, signalling that the technology to scoot around and act as guides will become as commonplace as the droids in Star Wars that scurry about the ankles of humans, performing simple tasks. More realistically, there’s no discernable difference between these robots and an iPad on a stand in the middle of a store lobby.
Well robot Ipads are still cool in my book. It makes sense that information is the first frontier that commercial robots will try to dominate. I mean, how many times have you asked someone for directions on the street just to get a snub and a cold shoulder? Do robots actually have better manners than human beings? They do if they are programmed to! I suppose others will be programmed to flip us off but that is getting too imaginative now isn't it?
At CES 2018 people were introduced to new customer service robots which were pretty much white plastic towers standing four-and-a-half feet tall with touchscreens where a humanoid head would be.
But other robots like UBTech’s Cruzr, were built with arms that can make gestures. Unfortunately grabbing things to club you over the head with are beyond the capabilities of these friendly robots. According to a representative from UBTech, making robotic hands capable of holding things is simply too costly based on the current technological processes available in modern mass production of consumer robotics.
When a person walks up to a information robot, vendors say that the robot should stop any motion, recognizing that a person is trying to interact with it. Few have voice interfaces, like an Alexa or a Siri, with most relying on their touchscreen-faces for people to navigate to directions or information on a product in the store.
Ok, so lets give this shot... When I spot a robot I walk up to it and block its pathway while remaining completely motionless. Then I should touch its 'touchscreen-face' right?
This seems like there are a few bugs that still need to be worked out. I'd much prefer voice control but I doubt it will take long to integrate features like that. Guess we'll have to wait until 2019 for that eh?
“Believe me, it’s an attention-getter,” said David Fracis Martinez of Qihan, a Chinese company that makes the Sanbot robot, to a group of CES-goers asking the advantages of the robot. “Once you have them that’s all that matters.”
This says so much to me about the state of modern robots. They are cool. They are new... What else do you expect? There are people welcoming this new robotic future with open arms and there are others that completely despise the thought. I guess the question we have to ask ourselves is which camp do I belong in?
What do you guys think of these new informational robots? They don't look scary do they? Do you think informational robots will replace information kiosks staffed by human beings this year?
Please leave your thoughts and feedback below!
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Source:
The robots of 2018 are iPads on wheels - Quartz
Image Source:
Quartz