Since the dawn of the 20th Century, humanity has dreamed of mechanical helpers. From the anxiety-prone Robot B-9 from Lost In Space and his warnings of, ‘Danger, Will Robinson!’ to the quintessential English butler-style mannerisms of C-3PO, the idea of having these contraptions there to do our bidding has been an enticing concept that was unfortunately out of reach – until now, at least. Advances in technology, such as voice and motion recognition, tactile sensors, Wi-Fi and cloud computing, and, in more advanced examples, AI and machine learning are giving rise to a new consumer-focussed breed of robots that might actually prove to be more than just trendy, but ultimately useless, pieces of tech.
According to a report by market intelligence firm Tractica, annual shipments of consumer robots are set…
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Gadget (Digital) - 1 Issue, No. 17