Here
Come the Home Robots — for Real
This is the droid
you're looking for. Humanoid servants are poised to finally be of service
around the home
Houzz Contributor. I'm
a Silicon Valley-based writer, columnist and blogger,
In the 1930s futurists predicted that by now
we’d all have a particular kind of robot in our homes: a humanoid robot
servant. An article in a 1932
issue of the newspaper San Antonio Light envisioned the ubiquity of a robot valet that would help gentlemen in the 1980s get
dressed in the morning.
One reason for the belief that robots were coming was that hucksters and tinkerers and even large corporations were making rudimentary mechanical robots and showcasing them around the country.
One reason for the belief that robots were coming was that hucksters and tinkerers and even large corporations were making rudimentary mechanical robots and showcasing them around the country.
<div><a href='http://www.houzz.com/photos/6652440/Finally--Here-Come-the-Home-Robots---'><img src='http://st.houzz.com/simgs/70c1ce2202794989_3-0395/home-design.jpg' border=0 width='228' height='320' /></a></div><div style='color:#444;'><small><a style='text-decoration:none;color:#444;' href='http://www.houzz.com/photos/other'>Other</a></small></div>
Westinghouse, for example, toured the country
showing off a $22,000 home robot called Miss Katrina Van Televox. Promotional
materials claimed that it “talks ... answers the phone ... runs a vacuum
cleaner ... makes coffee and toast ... [and] turns the lights on and off.”
Pretty amazing, given that no commercially available robot today can do that.
Westinghouse continued to develop robot technology, eventually building Elektro, the Moto-Man, which could “walk” (on wheels), “talk” via an actual record player inside and respond to voice commands. He even smoked cigarettes. In a cheesy video promotion from the 1939 World’s Fair, one audience member says: “Why, he’s almost human!”
Believing robots could perform like humans was pretty common; it was based on spectacular ignorance about the complexity of a person — and of a real robot. Creations like Westinghouse's persuaded the public that companies were on the brink of developing a robot that could replace a human servant, cleaning the house and doing other chores.
More than 80 years after Miss Katrina Van Televox wowed audiences, we do have housekeeping robots and we do have humanoid robots. We have “robots” that can talk, answer the phone, vacuum the floor, make coffee and toast and turn the lights on and off. But none of these robots exist in a single entity, as envisioned by yesterday’s futurists.
Voicemail answers our phone. Our computers and phones can talk to us. Special-purpose robots vacuum and also mop the floors. Coffeemakers and toasters are computerized. And all kinds of products exist to automate lights.
It turns out that the old vision of a robotic servant was based more on the inability to conceive that household chores could be done by special-purpose machines. Back then a human did all these things, so the solution for automation was to build a mechanical human.
Still, researchers are working on humanoid robots that actually do useful things. Here’s what’s coming.
Pretty amazing, given that no commercially available robot today can do that.
Westinghouse continued to develop robot technology, eventually building Elektro, the Moto-Man, which could “walk” (on wheels), “talk” via an actual record player inside and respond to voice commands. He even smoked cigarettes. In a cheesy video promotion from the 1939 World’s Fair, one audience member says: “Why, he’s almost human!”
Believing robots could perform like humans was pretty common; it was based on spectacular ignorance about the complexity of a person — and of a real robot. Creations like Westinghouse's persuaded the public that companies were on the brink of developing a robot that could replace a human servant, cleaning the house and doing other chores.
More than 80 years after Miss Katrina Van Televox wowed audiences, we do have housekeeping robots and we do have humanoid robots. We have “robots” that can talk, answer the phone, vacuum the floor, make coffee and toast and turn the lights on and off. But none of these robots exist in a single entity, as envisioned by yesterday’s futurists.
Voicemail answers our phone. Our computers and phones can talk to us. Special-purpose robots vacuum and also mop the floors. Coffeemakers and toasters are computerized. And all kinds of products exist to automate lights.
It turns out that the old vision of a robotic servant was based more on the inability to conceive that household chores could be done by special-purpose machines. Back then a human did all these things, so the solution for automation was to build a mechanical human.
Still, researchers are working on humanoid robots that actually do useful things. Here’s what’s coming.
<div><a href='http://www.houzz.com/photos/6652449/Zeno-R25--home-electronics-'><img src='http://st.houzz.com/simgs/b3f16a90027949a4_3-0422/-home-electronics.jpg' border=0 width='320' height='178' /></a></div><div style='color:#444;'><small><a style='text-decoration:none;color:#444;' href='http://www.houzz.com/photos/home-electronics'>Home Electronics</a></small></div>
A humanoid robot called Zeno R25 is designed
to walk around the house, recognize and converse with people and even express
emotions with voice and facial expressions.
Its developer, RoboKind, has a solid track record of making highly interactive robots that in the past were very expensive. The key attribute of Zeno R25 is its relative affordability: $2,699.
Zeno R25’s rubber face can “smile, frown, blink, look angry or surprised and lip-sync speech,” according to the project’s Kickstarter page. It can reflect the emotions of other people in the room, so if you’re happy, Zeno R25 will act and speak happily.
The robot has eight microphones, so it can tell where speech is coming from, enabling it to turn and face the person it’s talking to. It can see with cameras in its eyes. The arms and hands can reach out and grab things. And it’s all programmable and software upgradable; in the future you'll be able to program it to bring things to you and convey messages to other members of the family.
Its developer, RoboKind, has a solid track record of making highly interactive robots that in the past were very expensive. The key attribute of Zeno R25 is its relative affordability: $2,699.
Zeno R25’s rubber face can “smile, frown, blink, look angry or surprised and lip-sync speech,” according to the project’s Kickstarter page. It can reflect the emotions of other people in the room, so if you’re happy, Zeno R25 will act and speak happily.
The robot has eight microphones, so it can tell where speech is coming from, enabling it to turn and face the person it’s talking to. It can see with cameras in its eyes. The arms and hands can reach out and grab things. And it’s all programmable and software upgradable; in the future you'll be able to program it to bring things to you and convey messages to other members of the family.
Another awesome robot that could be used in
the home (but only for advanced enthusiasts) is Aldebaran Robotics' NAO Next
Gen robot.
The robot is advanced and expensive, costing $16,000. It’s really designed for researchers and also for specific therapeutic applications — for example, some researchers are using the Next Gen to teach autistic children how to focus their attention.
The robot runs on similar electronics as an advanced smart phone. Plus it has HD cameras, infrared sensors, two speakers and three capacitive sensors that can detect touch. Four microphones enables the robot to detect the direction of sounds, including voices. It runs Linux and can be programmed, but only by an experienced software developer. It could also be easily controlled via a smart-phone app, which would be pretty easy to build. It is 23 inches tall and speaks eight languages.
The Next Gen isn’t ready for prime time as an all-purpose home robot. However, it’s very close. The main constraint is the cost. If the hardware could be manufactured for less than $5,000, a consumer electronics or robotics company could write software that would make the Next Gen a family-friendly robot for consumers.
What’s really revolutionary about both Zeno R25 and Next Gen is that, unlike the mechanical servants of the 1930s, which could do a short list of specific actions under very controlled conditions, they can potentially do just about anything. It’s like the difference between a mechanical typewriter and a computer.
More than 80 years after the first home robot craze swept the nation, we’re finally on the brink of introducing real humanoid robots that can walk, talk, interact — and maybe even help out around the house.
The robot is advanced and expensive, costing $16,000. It’s really designed for researchers and also for specific therapeutic applications — for example, some researchers are using the Next Gen to teach autistic children how to focus their attention.
The robot runs on similar electronics as an advanced smart phone. Plus it has HD cameras, infrared sensors, two speakers and three capacitive sensors that can detect touch. Four microphones enables the robot to detect the direction of sounds, including voices. It runs Linux and can be programmed, but only by an experienced software developer. It could also be easily controlled via a smart-phone app, which would be pretty easy to build. It is 23 inches tall and speaks eight languages.
The Next Gen isn’t ready for prime time as an all-purpose home robot. However, it’s very close. The main constraint is the cost. If the hardware could be manufactured for less than $5,000, a consumer electronics or robotics company could write software that would make the Next Gen a family-friendly robot for consumers.
What’s really revolutionary about both Zeno R25 and Next Gen is that, unlike the mechanical servants of the 1930s, which could do a short list of specific actions under very controlled conditions, they can potentially do just about anything. It’s like the difference between a mechanical typewriter and a computer.
More than 80 years after the first home robot craze swept the nation, we’re finally on the brink of introducing real humanoid robots that can walk, talk, interact — and maybe even help out around the house.
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