This Robot is a little Swinger
Are you unsure that robots will someday be able to blend into your home? Play with your kids? Be your buddy? Well, watch this little guy on a swing. Yes, he’s programmed to do this, but notice the smoothness of his movements. We’re getting closer, small advancement by little advancement.
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by Teaching Baby Robot to Talk
Parents instinctively and naturally teach babies how to talk, but how does that work, exactly? Researchers at at the University of Plymouth will try to find out. Over the next four years robotics experts will work with language development specialists will work with a one meter tall humanoid baby robot named iCub in an attempt to discover exactly how language development works.
Read MoreHey Good Looking
Despite all the controversy about whether or not we will require home robots to look human or not, technology that literally brings a human face to robots is moving forward at a rapid pace . Nowhere is robotics advancing as quickly as it is in Japan, where exciting projects are underway in their university labs. At one such lab in Tokyo, engineering students are wiring a rubbery robot face to simulate six basic human expressions - happiness, anger, fear, sadness, surprise and disgust. But it does more than create these expressions on command; it is connected to a database of words clustered by association and responds to various words, reacting to their meanings.
Read MoreThe Robot Form Factor Debate
Do consumers have a preference of human-looking or robotic-looking robots? New research provides some answers and, interestingly, it is based upon personality types. A team led by Professor Kerstin Dautenhahn at the University of Hertfordshire’s School of Computer Science concludes that people with more extrovert personalities tend to choose more human-looking and human-sounding, humanoid robots, while more introverted people tend to prefer mechanical-looking robots which by, the way, very well could have a head, but a metal head.
Read MoreBeginnings of the Kitchen Robot
Not exactly ready for Prime Time, but I have to admit incredibly impressive, this kitchen service robot built by professors at Tokyo University gives us a glimpse of how robots will help us around the house. The guy isn’t very fast, but the humanoid robot has enough delicate dexterity and precision that he can pour tea and wash up after. The robot is the result of four years of hard work using cutting edge technology gathered from more than 40 Robotics and Information Technology professors at the University of Tokyo.
Read More2008: Year of the Home Robot
Apparently, great minds do think alike. We’ve been making plans for our 2008 debut of Home Robots for some time now, and right when we’re about ready to go live, none other than ComputerWorld.com crowns the product category of home robots as the number three top personal tech trend for 2008. Seems our timing is perfect.
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