Image by d.ibtimes.co.uk/ By Salma Abdussamad
Staff Writer Robots need better PR agents. They’re often portrayed as hard-edged, cold automatons that are just waiting to kill you in your sleep. Buddy, a family robot currently available from Indiegogo, seems to be a lot nicer. Buddy the robot protects your home, offers assistance in the kitchen, entertains the family with music and videos, acts as a calendar and alarm clock and interfaces with popular smart home solutions, among many other activities. When Tony Stark talks to Jarvis in Iron Man, we want that level of interaction in real life, and making that happen becomes the area of study for hundreds of software developers and researchers including, Mark Zuckerberg. Buddy is supposed to be able to tackle all sorts of tasks. It can keep track of your agenda, wake you up in the morning, and act as a teleconferencing portal, a video- and music-streaming device and a home security sentry (via built-in camera). It's also supposed to work with third-party smart home products like Parrot Flower Power ,Nest Learning Thermostat , Nest Protect , Netatmo Weather Station ,MyFox Smart Home Security System , Lifx LEDs and others. Companion mobile apps will be available for Android, iOS and Windows users, and Buddy was built on an open platform so developers can get in on the action, too. “We really do believe that language is inextricable from human intelligence,” said Adam Trischler, a research scientist at Maluuba. “ It’s really creepy and I feel like it’s going to choke me while I sleep” says Emily Paulson, a student at Lakeridge Junior High. However, Blue Robotics, The company that made BUDDY, says that it's already aware of that shortcoming and is working to upgrade the robot's mics ahead of its 2016 release. Similarly, the final version will be offered alongside two optional mechanical arms equipped with a variety of tools like the pico projector and the serving tray. The company also envisions both users and its developer community creating their own function-specific, 3D-printed appendages. The Buddy Classic goes on sale next July and will cost $749, although contributors to Blue Frog's Indiegogo campaign will get theirs for $200 less. The campaign concluded Friday, beating its initial goal by more than 500 percent. Comments are closed.
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LJHSLakeridge Junior High School is an award- winning academic institution located in Lake Oswego, Oregon. Archives
October 2018
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