CES 2010 has come and gone, and if your are an avid technology news reader you are probably overloaded with all kinds of great information to impress everybody with. While 3D dominated coverage and was the unofficial focus of the show this year, there were still a few robotics companies showing off their latest and greatest. No demos seemed to give out an immediate sense of doom -- maybe just a hint of creepiness.
The main idea that many of the demonstrations showed was just how far robotics has come and how fast it is moving. In the past, updates on the Honda ASIMO or Sony AIBO would occasionally surface but were few and far between. CES 2010 had a plethora of new and updated robotics demos, so check them out after the break.
So far the most successful home robot has been the Roomba. The robotic vacuum has been a hit, and has spawned off other robotic cleaners for pools, gutter and floor washing. Two new competitors in automatic vacuuming were shown at CES 2010 -- the Evolution Robotics Mint and the Neato Robotics XV-11.
Evolution Robotics Mint
Popular Mechanics gave this robotic vacuum a CES 2010 Editor’s Choice Award for two new innovations and improvements over the Roomba. It uses Swiffer wet and dry pads, which makes the Mint quieter, better at cleaning the corners of a room and up to 5 times faster. It also add ceiling scanning infrared system called NorthStar to help it map a room more accurately.
Neato Robotics XV-11
The other entrant looking to take the Roomba’s crown is the XV-11. This robotic vacuum aims to improve on the Roomba by using a system of lasers to map a room and navigate. The main advantage to using lasers is that they allow the vacuum to adapt its path should someone walk into a room or place an object on the floor.
Robot vacuums don’t seem to be much of a threat to humanity -- unless their infrared and laser mapping/guidance systems make it into attack bots. The rest of the robots at CES 2010 show advancements in humanoid robots and robots designed to interact with people. These could be slightly more troubling.
I-FAIRY
The I-FAIRY is a humanoid robot that is able to use preprogrammed voices and gestures to became a robot presenter. A person records a voice clip of what they want the robot to say, or types a message to be spoken. Gestures are able to be programmed alongside the voice recording, allowing the I-FAIRY to become a presenter, museum guide, receptionist and more. It relies entirely on preprogrammed actions and cannot adapt, therefore should not be a threat to a group of tourists in a museum.
Also, check out the website of the company behind I-FAIRY -- Kokoro -- if you like robots and dinosaurs.
Parrot AR Drone
The AR Drone is a quadricopter -- a helicopter with four rotors -- that is remote controlled by an iPhone or iPod Touch. It has two cameras onboard, one pointing to the ground to verify flying height, speed and to allow for stationary hovering. The other camera is facing forwards and streams video to the iPhone or iPod Touch. The AR in Parrot AR Drone name stands for augmented reality and opens up a whole new remote controlled vehicle experience. Items can be tagged with bar codes, which the drone will recognize as a variety of objects such as enemies or obstacles. A picture can then be superimposed over the video, showing the bar coded object as that enemy or obstacle.
There are 2 videos below -- a demo from CES 2010 and a promotional video from Parrot.
Does this mean that eventually we will all have our own predator drones that use cell phones as remote controls?
Paro
The Paro is seal looking robot that is meant to be a companion for the elderly, disabled or dementia patients. Paro has sensors for touch, temperature, sound and more that allow it to interact with a user in a therapeutic way. A Paro can also replace a pet, if the owner is not able to care for a normal pet. Hopefully it won’t be trying to smother anyone in their sleep anytime soon.
Don't let cuteness fool you, it is a robot.
There is also a good video from the Guardian. The first half is about the Paro and is more in depth than the video above.
BeatBots Keepon
The BeatBots are not brand new, but were shown at CES 2010 to demonstrate how they can work in the medical field as tools for measuring social development and autism therapy. Much like the Paro, the Keepon is meant to be a therapeutic robot.
TalkingRobo
The TalkingRobo is a language learning tool, where the robot teaches the user a language in its natural form in an easy to learn way. TalkingRobo has voice and face recognition that allows it to distinguish a user and load a specific learning plan. A user can also hold up a picture and the TalkingRobo will identify it, allowing a user to learn the specific words they want. It also has a creepy looking face on the display that is meant to be the teacher.
TrueCompanion Roxxxy Sex Robot
Roxxxy wasn’t shown at CES 2010, but rather at the Adult Entertainment Expo that was happening in Las Vegas at the same time. Roxxxy is the worlds first sexbot, and is able to hold a conversation as well as have different personalities such as shy, wild and dominatrix. A user can upload different traits and personalities into the robot allowing for a different, uh, experience every time. Sex with robots isnot a good idea.
The video may be NSFW. There is no nudity, but there is a lingerie clad, anatomically correct robot in it. Be warned.
Finally, there is a video from Gamma Two Robotics. They brought a unit that is meant to act like a servant robot -- it is able to move items for someone or help the elderly and disabled. Unfortunately for the presenters, nothing went as planned.
Although the robot on stage didn’t short circuit and start attacking the presenters, it is a good demonstration on how tricky it can be to make robots do what you want. Instead of awkward excuses from a man on stage, it could have ended with a murderous rampage of cold steel and circuitry.
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