Isn’t it interesting how you watch something like that and you immediately start to personalize the robot and react to it like it’s animate? (At least I do.)
I heard a radio feature the other day where the Roomba people were talking about how their customers often give the little vacuum cleaners names and refer to them as “he” or “she.” When they break, the customers send them in and want them fixed - they’re so attached, they don’t want to be given new ones! And these are just discs that run around and clean the carpet - they don’t even have faces or anything.
It makes you wonder how attached people are going to get to their robots when these machines start making their way into our lives more and more. The Skeptics Society is sponsoring a lecture on this next month that I’m looking forward to attending.
Karen, yes, it is fascinating how people do that. (That robot is very cute so I think it’s easily done!)
I had no idea people got that attached to those robot vacuum cleaners. I have noticed some people name their GPSs. Which also don’t have faces (with eyes etc. I mean) - but of course they do talk.
Comment by: Jason Horton
1 05/9/08 8:21 AM | Comment Link |He he, clever.
Comment by: Helen
2 05/9/08 8:52 AM | Comment Link |Cute too :)
I watched the longer version to see whether it was a real learning robot and or just a trick done with video. On the long one the robot talks.
Comment by: karen
3 05/9/08 4:36 PM | Comment Link |Isn’t it interesting how you watch something like that and you immediately start to personalize the robot and react to it like it’s animate? (At least I do.)
I heard a radio feature the other day where the Roomba people were talking about how their customers often give the little vacuum cleaners names and refer to them as “he” or “she.” When they break, the customers send them in and want them fixed - they’re so attached, they don’t want to be given new ones! And these are just discs that run around and clean the carpet - they don’t even have faces or anything.
It makes you wonder how attached people are going to get to their robots when these machines start making their way into our lives more and more. The Skeptics Society is sponsoring a lecture on this next month that I’m looking forward to attending.
Comment by: Helen
4 05/10/08 6:32 AM | Comment Link |Karen, yes, it is fascinating how people do that. (That robot is very cute so I think it’s easily done!)
I had no idea people got that attached to those robot vacuum cleaners. I have noticed some people name their GPSs. Which also don’t have faces (with eyes etc. I mean) - but of course they do talk.