Three Social Robots Arriving in 2016: Novelty or Next Level of Home Automation?

Who will be the first to arrive? JIBO, AIDO and BUDDY are scheduled to arrive in April, October and December 2016 respectively, though JIBO has run into delays. All solutions received funding on Indiegogo and have been widely covered in mainstream media.

Introduction

Even as smart technologies proliferate making smarter homes, clothes and appliances the world is still waiting for that one intelligent killer app that takes away the management of this technology. The ideal solution on everyone’s list? A robotic butler.

Although robotics automation has gone better and smart technology become cheaper (the average smart device costs below $500), the perfect robotic butler may still be a decade away.

Meanwhile, there is something (or someone) to fill the gap. Social or personal robots as they are called, have arrived on the scene in last year with prototypes vying for funding and presales. 2016 is when many of them will come into consumer hands and homes.

We profile three of the widely anticipated social robots that were crowdfunded on Indiegogo and arriving in 2016. 

JIBO -The world's first social robot for home

JIBO, a table top social robot. Source: JIBO

First on the list is the popular JIBO, which was in news last week for yet another delay in its widely anticipated launch. 

JIBO, dubbed as the world's first social robot for home, was founded in 2014 by Dr Cynthia Breazeal, a veteran in social robotic designs. Production launched after a presales funding campaign on Indiegogo that has raised over $3.7 million and 4,800 pre-orders at $749 apiece. New orders are currently on a waitlist.  

Standing at 11 inches, JIBO’s has a cute animated face sitting atop a 6-inch base. JIBO is not mobile, but can swivel around its base in response to its 3600 sound localization sensors. JIBO’s in-built hardware includes high resolution cameras, 3D microphones and speakers for facial recognition, voice recognition, taking pictures and videos and notifications such as reminders and alerts. 

Voice assistant capabilities like Siri or Google Now are delivered through natural language processing for speech to text/speech conversion. JIBO also has artificial intelligence algorithms that progressively learn and adapt individual user preferences.

Processing capabilities are delivered through a high end mobile ARM processor. JIBO connects to the Internet using wifi and Bluetooth for communication with other mobile devices and other JIBO’s as well. 

JIBO also includes a developer SDK that includes a Visual Simulator and animation, timeline and behaviour tools to develop add on applications that will be available via a dedicated JIBO store.

JIBO technical specs as listed on their Indiegogo project

JIBO is already popular with consumers although the delayed launch this week, means JIBO will lose its first social robot tag and will have to compete with the more sophisticated alternatives that are also arriving this year.

AIDO: Interactive Personal Home Robot

AIDO, the interactive personal assistant. Source: AIDO.

Dubbed an interactive personal home robot, Aido raises the game up several notches from JIBO at roughly the same pre-order price. AIDO includes all capabilities that are bundled in JIBO and some more, making it closer to a robot butler (it actually has a mode called “butler”).

For one, while JIBO is more of a table top companion, AIDO can move. It is a three foot high ball bot with a single ball base for motion and swivel. Unlike the bouncy toy we played with as children, AIDO constantly equilibrates on its base even when stationary, with additional retractable legs to keep it in one place for longer periods.

AIDO also boasts a multimedia HD projector add on, which means it works as a portable entertainment unit cum projector screen for videos in any part of the house.

AIDO's features multimedia projection features Source: AIDO

The robot also supports ZigBee and Z-wave wireless standards which means it can communicate with and control compatible smart home appliances such as lighting systems, climate control and security. Users can program workflows via a mobile app creating a series of time sequenced instructions. 

AIDO packs in some heavy duty computing and innovative architecture to support all its capabilities. There is 3 quad core CPU and GPU processing unit. Its supports connectivity through wifi, Bluetooth, ZigBee and Z-Wave protocols, plus a Universal Infra Red remote that supports over 1000 devices. It has 4D gravity sensor, 6 microphone array, indoor object recognition, touch screen, multiple cameras and projector displays. All this makes it good value at the price offered for early birds. If it takes off, AIDO may be worthwhile at twice.  

For developers, AIDO is built on open source hybrid Andriod-Linux architecture and comes with OpenAIDO, an open platform SDK, which includes tools and libraries to build applications. 

JIBO technical specs as listed on their Indiegogo project

Also founded in 2014, AIDO’s design has already received awards wining "GameChanger" of 2016 by T3 magazine. At the time of writing AIDO’s Indiegogo campaign has raised over $370,000 in pre-orders and still has 11 days before it closes. First deliveries are planned in October 2016. If you are among those waiting to get your hands on a ball bot there is still a chance to do so.

In the optimistic world of smart tech, maybe AIDO will do everything that is promised. But even a fraction would still be a major step in the evolution of robot Jeeves cum Jarvis.

BUDDY - The Companion Robot

Rounding up this list is BUDDY from French company Blue Frog Robotics. Dubbed a social companion robot, BUDDY runs on wheels and casters and is available on pre-order price of $699 for the classic edition. Their campaign on Indiegogo raised over $600,000 from backers. Shipments are estimated in December 2016.

BUDDY’s capabilities are similar to AIDO’s. It provides the same range of capabilities from voice assistance, entertainment, smart home appliance management, multimedia projection and social interaction. BUDDY also lists two additional functions. It serves as home security unit, actively patrolling the house and sending alerts on detecting unusual situations. It also provides elder care serving medication reminders, detecting falls or unusual activity. 

It also runs on open source platforms, using Arduino and Unity 3D video gaming platform for applications.  Unlike AIDO, BUDDY supports wifi and Bluetooth connectivity only. 

Buddy Tech Specs

The future for Social Robots

Long featured in science fiction, social robots or personal robotic assistance may just become the critical accessory for home automation. 

2016 may be the entry point for many such products which are currently in the voice assistant/entertainment category. But the technology may not work completely as advertised through. The challenges with natural voice recognition technology, data security and privacy are just some of the concerns about social robots. Like this feature in IEEE Spectrum on JIBO and MIT Technology Review’s experience with Buddy  show that the first robots off the assembly line may still be lacking something.

Maybe the social robots score on cuteness but are not yet the real thing. But this is promising step in a market which is still in early stages. Another space where exciting things are in store.