The New Robot Friend: Jibo
By: Brittany Loo,
Science Writer
Movies and TV shows have been dreaming about interactive robots for years. Star Wars created R2D2 and C3PO, which were life-like interactive robots, Rosie from The Jetson’s was a family interactive robot; these things have been dreams for so long, but what if they were a reality? Just imagine a man- made robot that can interact with you and your family and friends; it can run your household when you can’t, and it can be your loyal companion. This man-made companion is not just a dream anymore; it is becoming a reality. A new generation of robot has just gone on pre-order for the public market; its name is Jibo.
Jibo is a new class of robot; its advances in modern engineering have never been available to the market before. This robot is essentially a screen that sits on a rotating ball. It may be simple in appearance; however, it makes up for that in its innovative ways of interacting. You connect Jibo to your wifi and teach it to recognize your face and voice. Then you can connect Jibo to your computers and mobile devices. Once you have done this, Jibo will take pictures for you, remind you of tasks, message your friends and family if you ask it, video call people you ask it to, read you stories and interact with whatever you may tell it. It does this all while becoming personalized to you and becoming a “physical presence with helpfulness and heart” (Meet JIBO, The World's First Family Robot). Jibo has two high resolution cameras to take pictures and recognize faces. It contains 360° microphones to hear from anywhere in a room. Advanced algorithms make it able to adapt to your lifestyle; it can proactively help you in order to make your life easier. Jibo also has a speaker, so that it can speak back to you and is built to speak to you using social methods and cues, so that you can connect to it in an easy way. This robot is a helpful interactive robot unlike any other. It has human aspects that have never been seen in artificial intelligence before.
Jibo is already succeeding and thriving in modern technology. Jibo was released very recently and isn’t done being built and developed. It was released on a site called indiegogo, which is a technology site, and is now the most successful technology campaign on that site ever. It had a goal to raise $100,000 dollars on that site and it hit that goal within a few days. When the campaign closed in September, Jibo had raised over 2,000,000 dollars. It has made a connection with a lot of businesses and a lot of consumers. Many are waiting for it to be released so they themselves can have a personalized robot in their home. This robot has put dreams into people’s eyes. They want to live in this futuristic world where a robot can be part of the family. It’s a dream come true for many and a boundary breaker for the world.
Works Cited
Hurst, Samantha. "Family Robot Jibo Finishes Indiegogo Run; Raises Over $2M & Becomes Most Successful Technology Campaign On the Platform - Crowdfund Insider." Crowdfund Insider. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Oct. 2014. <http://www.crowdfundinsider.com/2014/09/49650-family-robot-jibo-finishesindiegogo-run-raises-2m-becomes-successful-technology-campaign-plaform/>.
"Meet JIBO, The World's First Family Robot." JIBO. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Oct. 2014. <http://www.myjibo.com/>.
Russell, Kyle. "Hands On With Jibo, The Family Robot | TechCrunch." TechCrunch. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Oct. 2014. <http://techcrunch.com/2014/07/17/hands-on-with-jibo-the-familyrobot/>.