Robotic interfaces
An article highlighting the challenges of creating a safe user interface for robots interacting with people, with interesting interface insights from the roomba:
“Making sure robots are safe will be critical,” says Colin Angle of
iRobot, which has sold over 2m “Roomba” household-vacuuming robots. But
he argues that his firm’s robots are, in fact, much safer than some
popular toys. “A radio-controlled car controlled by a six-year old is
far more dangerous than a Roomba,” he says. If you tread on a Roomba,
it will not cause you to slip over; instead, a rubber pad on its base
grips the floor and prevents it from moving.
to the sex-toy theorists:
“People are willing to have sex with inflatable dolls, so initially
anything that moves will be an improvement.” To some this may all seem
like harmless fun, but without any kind of regulation it seems only a
matter of time before someone starts selling robotic sex dolls
resembling children, says Dr Christensen.
to the implications for the military:
Is “system malfunction” a justifiable defence for a robotic fighter
plane that contravenes the Geneva Convention and mistakenly fires on
innocent civilians?
Important to think about, and good to see the media publicising the discussion.
Technorati Tags: robots, sex, user+interface