Technology
Robots to the Rescue
From house help to being an emotional companion, Robots have come a long way in becoming a part of our daily life and more so in this pandemic. Covid-19 has redefined the way we work. With a major part of the population working remotely and the trend still on, robots are becoming part of everyday life…
The House Help Home robots have been in the market for decades now. No longer is just a floor-mopping machine. The newer edition gets Wi-Fi control and is enabled by Alexa. You can simply command the Roomba to begin work. It is AI-enabled to remind it of corners that need extra cleaning. And when low on energy, it can find a charging point and charge itself automatically.
When Roomba was launched, there weren’t many takers. Post the pandemic, the sales have skyrocketed every quarter. With the shortage of domestic helps due to reverse migration, many people in the cities switched to technologies that help them in their daily chores.
An Emotional Companion
Many of us have been looking for a companion to bond emotionally, especially in this pandemic. Humans come with problems! That’s why Asus launched Zenbo a few years ago. This cute-looking humanoid has learnt to share your emotions. So, imagine yourself looking at firecrackers in the sky, and this robot will follow your eyes and react. When you are not home, its AI-enabled system will keep scanning your rooms and report to you about anything suspicious.
At Your Command!
In a world suddenly fearful of touch, voice technology is getting a fresh look. Voice activated systems such as Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa and Apple’s Siri have seen strong growth in recent years. Voice assistants are used not only for answering queries and shopping, but also for smart home control and for a range of business and medical applications which could see increased interest as people seek to limit personal contact.
Voice has already made significant inroads into the smart home space, and voice control can mean avoiding commonly touched surfaces around the home from smartphones, to TV remotes, light switches, thermostats, door handles and more… There is growing interest in smart locks and doorbells, along with other smart home systems, to eliminate the need for personal contact and face-to-face interaction as a result of the pandemic. It is estimated that voice control device shipments for smart home devices will grow globally by close to 30 percent, and for the broader market of voice assistants, it is estimated to have 8.4 billion devices in use by 2024, with much of the interactions on smartphones.
Being Your Proxy
As we keep maintaining social distance and connecting virtually, there is definitely a gap in social intimacy. GoBe Robots are ready to do it for them. This telepresence machine is a remote-controlled mobile robot that allows communication through a 21.5-inch screen that reproduces the user’s face in natural size. A zoomable 4K camera and a wide-angle front camera give the “robot pilot” a clear overview of the location.
The new generation of GoBe Robots awaiting launch stands out with an open system that creates even more applications and allows users to maximise the potential of the technology. Users get a distinct feeling of being where the robot is as they receive live video streams of the location as the machine moves around it. This enables active collaboration and interaction between people, no matter how far they are from each other.
-Noel Fernandis
Team ScienceNow
