Robotics

Just as the personal computer brought computing to the masses, mobile robotics have begun to find their way into the home. And just as home video-game consoles paved the way for personal computing, robotic toys and virtual pets may one day be considered the forerunners of more versatile and practical personal robots.

Robots of one form or another have existed in fiction and in fact for several millennia. The ancient Egyptians and Greeks created hydraulically driven statues; by the eighteenth century, mechanical automatons had reached new levels of complexity, allowing for a wide range of behaviors. These machines, which were created as amusing diversions for the aristocracy, are direct ancestors of the personal entertainment robots being created today. They are a world apart from the industrial robots that continue to be employed in large-scale manufacturing and other commercial applications; these robots are normally limited to particular repetitive tasks, are relatively expensive, and require ongoing maintenance. Other special-pur-pose robots include those that are designed to work in environments inhospitable to humans—under water or in space, for example. These robots are often controlled by a remote operator rather than being autonomous, although there are many exceptions. The robots emerging now for a consumer market are designed mainly to entertain, although over time their social consequences may be serious indeed.

Sony's Aibo has garnered a significant amount of public attention, and serves as an example of why these kinds of technologies are particularly interesting. The Aibo, a three-pound toy dog that appears to exhibit a personality, set a sales record when it was introduced, and dozens of similar products have now entered the market. It is very much like the automatons of centuries past, as well as more recent virtual pets like the Furby and Tamagotchi, in that it mimics the behavior of live animals in order to give the appearance of consciousness. However, the use of digital electronics and sensing systems allows the Aibo to interact with its environment much more than earlier devices were able to. The most recent generation of the Aibo, for example, is equipped with a small video camera, microphones, heat sensors, and pressure sensors, and can learn to understand several dozen simple spoken commands as well as navigate home environments with some success. The behaviors the robot is capable of are pre-programmed rather than learned, but are designed to mimic the development of skills in live pets, advancing gradually in stages as the robot “ages.” The popularity of the $2,000 Aibo has provided an economic impetus for continued research.

While it is primarily an expensive toy at present, Sony sees a more practical role for the device in the future. Indeed, as representatives from Sony have repeatedly explained, Aibo was not designed to replace dogs as pets, but as an attempt to discover how humans can “live with robots.” Like the robotic cat called Tama from Matsushita, the Aibo is seen as a potential companion robot for the elderly. These robots would eventually help to watch over the infirm, and would help maintain a stronger link to the outside world. This unification of entertainment and service has been attempted in other areas, like the robotic guides that provide tours for visitors at the Museum für Kommunikation in Berlin. In 1999, an annual publication titled World Robotics that reports on the development of the robotics industry introduced a new category, “service robots,” which included entertainment robots. The attention garnered by this newly popular type of robot over the last few years has ensured that service robotics will remain an area of rapid advancement.

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