Following the recent conclusion of the Consumer Electronics (CES) Show in Las Vegas, a whole new technology has been shown, from smartphones to driverless cars, but another impressive creation that has gotten speculators' attention is robot butlers. These digital butlers can give security, do household chores, show movies and even remind on due medications.
Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook CEO, claimed of his intention to create his own home butler with artificial intelligence this year. He added it can be like Jarvis in 'Iron Man,' something that could help him do his work. But seems like the idea interested not only Zuckerberg but many other companies as well and was featured during CES 2016.
Segway, Intel and Chinese Ninebot, a Xiaomi portfolio company, teamed up and created a digital butler that not only talks and answers the door but can also become a personal transporter by retracting its head and turning into a hoverboard. In addition, the camera placed in its front also means a security camera at home. It has built-in arms that were designed for lifting objects. However, technical knowledge is needed to program it. Segway revealed that its robot-servant will have its initial testing in late this year or early next year.
Meanwhile, a nagging device that helps humans be reminded of their activities was also created. The $300 gadget called Mother has four sensors that are programmable to monitor people's fitness, home temperature and sleeping patterns to name a few. If users fail to do what "Mother" told them to, it will light up and send a notification to smartphones. Some of the common things "Mother" remind you of include taking pills, checking exercise equipment and tracking keys.
Another butler is French Buddy. It was created both to serve as a companion and do butler tasks. French Buddy can make life easier: it can receive Skype calls by switching its face into a screen, can act as surveillance, can guard around the house and can send notification when something is wrong. It is an open-source robot that can be programmed to carry out more tasks. It can also speak both English and French, too. Starting price is at $650.
