On 1/6/07, Philip Goetz <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
The problem wasn't technological. It was that nobody had any use for a robot. We never figured out what people would want the robot for. I think that's still the problem.
Well, I for one want a job assistant who can fetch things - what apprentices or surgical nurse-assistanty things are often called to do. "Assistant: Please get me a Phillips head screwdriver and half-a-dozen 10mm screws" A robot that could 1) Voice recognise instructions 2) Understand simple commands like "Get me X", "Hold this still", "Return this"... 3) Manoeuvre from your work space to your tool-store 4) Grab items from an appropriately set-up tool-store etc Would be pretty damn useful, and I see most of this as being feasible with current day tech. Sure, such an assistant would be pretty damn expensive, and less useful than a high-school-dropout apprentice/assistant (who can also run down the street and get you a sandwich), but this is a real, possible application for a robot. -- Olie ----- This list is sponsored by AGIRI: http://www.agiri.org/email To unsubscribe or change your options, please go to: http://v2.listbox.com/member/?list_id=303