We can't live without Amazon. The online commerce and cloud
storage giant has completely changed the way we shop, share digital
information, and embrace new technologies. Not content with all of this, Jeff
Bezos' company decided to develop its first cleaning robot. There are still
many questions about this project, which would be codenamed Vesta, which is a
clear allusion to the Roman goddess of the hearth.
Apparently, the development of this prototype is being
carried out by Amazon's research center, known as Lab126, which is responsible
for the development and production of products such as the Kindle, Fire Phone
and Echo, the flagships of this great American multinational corporation.
The reality is that there are almost no exact details about
Vesta: we do not know what she will be and what her goals will be. What seems
clearer is that it could include a kind of mobile Alexa, a system capable of
tracking users around their homes and performing functions that the Echo
speaker cannot do. And, as we learned, the prototype robots built by Amazon
have computer vision software and various cameras that guide us and move us
around our homes.
Fortunately, it looks like we'll see Vesta soon: the company
expects Amazon employees to have one of these devices in their homes by the end
of the year, so it shouldn't come as a surprise if they become public in 2019.
Will not be a butler
As we said, there are almost no details about the features
and functions of Vesta, so it is very difficult to understand what exactly
Amazon is going to offer. What does seem more definite is that a home robot
will have nothing to do with the idea of an android butler that many have in
their heads. The technology for these types of devices is not yet very
advanced. Despite the fact that many development companies are working on this,
reality tells us that there is a long way to go until artificial intelligence
(AI) is as smart as we want it to be. Let's see what will happen next!
Instead, it looks like Amazon's home robot will be a kind of
virtual assistant. Lately, there have been several companies that have
introduced products of this type, such as LG Hub, Mayfield Robotics Kuri, and
Pixar Jibo. These devices are designed to act as a central point of contact in
any smart home. Motives? They allow users to control devices connected to the
Internet, perform tasks such as setting timers and searching the Internet, and
have more interactive games for young children. Features that will undoubtedly
evolve as artificial intelligence develops. # TC Bolts
However, Vesta can be really useful for users if the voice
assistant Alexa is enabled, which will take on an even more personal role and
will be able to collect information of all kinds to make the robot perform
better.
Roomba's creator iRobot is also working in this direction.
In fact, they believe that cleaning robots will be much more efficient in the
future thanks to the data they collect on a daily basis. For example, if a
robot maps and understands your home, it will be able to perform a series of
more intelligent and intuitive actions, such as turning on lights at specific
times or raising and lowering blinds in our homes.
To this must be added the many other possibilities that
artificial intelligence offers: Vesta can help us with receiving or making
calls, writing messages and emails, and helping children with their homework.
In short, the Amazon robot would be a helper in everyday life, albeit far from
the servile android we all envision and personify in the actor Robin Williams,
who played the human robot in Bicentennial. Man ".
Rapidly developing market
Amazon's home robot confirms what many of us have already
felt: the robotics sector is booming. According to Statista, the robotics
sector will have a turnover of $ 2,700 million in 2020, and in just five years
it will reach $ 4,400. The International Federation of Robotics (IFR) goes
further in its calculations and estimates that the number of domestic robots
worldwide will reach 31 million. with an added value of about $ 13 billion,
including of course both harvesting crews. and for mowing lawns or cleaning
swimming pools.
And the fact is, the robotics market, according to the IFR,
has several open fronts. For example, robotics has made great strides in terms
of personal and home applications. It has grown globally with relatively few
mass-market products, including floor cleaning robots, lawn mowers, and
educational and entertainment robots. But, they warn, the technology continues
and will continue to evolve, making the next generation of robots even more
powerful.
In this sense, it is not surprising that many people imagine
that their homes are filled with smart devices, which may happen in the coming
decades. Of course, cleaning robots will still be the majority in our homes.
This is evidenced by the sales indices. Every year we buy more than three million
of these devices worldwide, so we can take the calculations they produce from
the IFR as reliable: there will be more than 30 million such devices in 2019.
Cleaning robots already account for 96% of home robot sales, followed by
robotic lawn mowers and pool cleaning devices, albeit at a much lower rate.
Not everything works
Obviously, people have other needs besides cleaning the
house or mowing the lawn. Entertainment is another sector in which robotics
offers many opportunities. This is evidenced by the sales figures: in 2015
alone, the total number of toy robots, remote-controlled multimedia robots and
personal educational and entertainment robots was 1.7 million units. IFR
predicts this market will grow to 11 million units in 2019. Toys and gadgets for
hobbies and hobbies account for 70 percent of the market in this segment.
But robotics also has a distinctly social purpose. There are
assistive robots that can help people with disabilities and the elderly.
Although very few units have been sold yet, IFR shows that sales reached 4,700
units in 2015 and were worth $ 17 million. They estimate that by 2019 the
number could grow to 37,500 units with a market value of $ 97 million.
Fear of robots taking over our homes
Robotics allows us to automate tedious tasks like cleaning
the house. Despite this, many people look at these small inventions with
suspicion. This is explained by a study by Pew Research, which was attended by
four thousand people and which shows that seven out of ten Americans do not trust
machines that are capable of working as a person.
Affording to the study, 72 percent of Americans are very or
somewhat worried about a future in which robots and computers can perform many
human tasks, while 76 percent are more suspicious of possible automation.
repetitive jobs. They believe this could increase economic inequality.
Meanwhile, 75 percent of people believe that robotics, automation and
artificial intelligence will destroy jobs and that the global economic system
will not be able to offer a solution to people who have lost their jobs.
One of the most signal samples of the automation of daily
and repetitive tasks is self-driving cars. Proponents of this technology
believe that cars without a driver are safer than those driven by a person, that
they are distracted and even fall asleep while driving.
Despite this, the majority of respondents (54 percent)
express more concern than enthusiasm about the development of this type of
vehicle. In fact, 30 percent believe that a self-driving car will increase the
number of fatal accidents on the road, and 56 percent say they would not drive
one if given the opportunity. Mistrust in technology and a reluctance to
relinquish control of the machine when making decisions that could threaten our
lives are two main reasons. There is still a lot to be complete for people to
truly trust robotics!
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