Archive for October 1st, 2007
iRobot’s ConnectR
“Robotics experts say gadgets introduced Thursday could usher more socially oriented robots into the U.S. market, though they bear little physical resemblance to humans or pets as robots embraced by consumers in Japan and South Korea do”.
Associated Press on Technology Review.
I just read about ConnectR, iRobot’s new product, and realized that in yesterday’s post about South Korea I did not make any references to the country’s interest in autonomous social devices: robots interacting with people, designed not only for informational, educational, entertainment tasks, but also to provide companionship.
“ConnectR lets you virtually visit with loved ones, relatives and pets anytime you wish – seeing, hearing and interacting with them in their home as if you were there in person”.
Note that iConnertR can navigate around the home and can be remotely controlled, but it does not feature a screen, which means video streams are enabled only one way. In these pictures the relative connecting from a laptop can see and talk to the kids but they cannot see her.
“The robot has two built in cameras which act like a single video source and provide both wide angle and zoom for driving and close up viewing”.
“The zoom level is 16.7x from the widest view to the narrowest. The camera features 220 degrees of tilt and can be panned 360 degrees (using the robot’s wheels) enabling you full freedom to view your location”.
If interested in having one of these in your home, you would also need a WiFi router and broadband Internet access.
Thinking of Mobile Ad-hoc Networks, it makes you wonder if the product’s evolution will involve robots connecting with one another and forming their own networks in the process.
José de Francisco 
Chicago, 1 October 07 
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“The Top 10″ at the time of uploading this post: [1] Design Concepts: Future Car. [2] Venture Capital Investment in Web 2.0. [3] “Visual Futurist: The Art & Life Of Syd Mead”. [4] Project Ergofuturo: ErgoTrans (1991 Product Concept). [5] Innovation Coolhunting In South Korea. [6] Virtual Ventures = Prediction Markets + Crowdsourcing. [7] Toyota’s Personal Mobility: MWV Concept. [8] Augmented (Virtual) Reality, Now Mobile. [9] Innovative Mobile Phones: Objects Of Desire. [10] Sci-Fi Based Scenarios: The City Of The Future.
