Robot Revolution – Humanoid Machines

Imagine a future where a robot could tend to you in old age. A humanoid machine equal parts caregiver and companion who’d live in your home, prepare your meals, and even help you out of bed. At night, your robot gently holds your hand as you drift asleep; changing the temperature of its appendage to match your own.

It might seem like science fiction, but the race to produce robots for the consumer market is very real. And there’s more than one tech company believing in domestic robotics as the next phase in computing technology.

Eric Stevenson is among those believers and predicts a near future where robots assist the elderly. Eric works for Aldebaran, a France based robotics company. He compares the burgeoning robotics industry to where the PC market was in its infancy. “We are on the forefront of what I think will be the biggest events of the 21st century,” Eric predicts. “It will take time, it’s not going to be an overnight phenomenon, but the ability for robots to help us will be exponentially different than the way it is today.”

The difference between today’s computers and tomorrow robots will lie in their intelligence. A computer can crunch numbers, but a robot could extract and communicate a meaning behind them. “When the computers do the intelligent connection of the perception to action, that’s called robotics,” explains University of Ottawa engineering professor Emil Petriu.