I, Roommate: The Robot Housekeeper Arrives

["Robert Green" <ROBERT_GREEN1963@xxxxxxxxx>]

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/14/garden/14robot.html

. . . "Once I had Nuvo up and running in my apartment with the help of its
creators, I tried to work it into my daily life. I asked it for the time and
the date, which it provided in a female voice with a Japanese accent. When I
said, "Nuvo, music," it played New Age music the inventors had programmed
into it. I reached down and turned its spherical head, which acts as a
volume knob, as I sipped my coffee or read my e-mail messages.

Much of the time it felt like having a dog around, without my having to feed
it. When I called it, its sensors detected me and it automatically stopped
about six inches from my feet.

If I said, "Nuvo, shake hands," it reached a hand up to greet me. By calling
up its control panel on my cellphone, I was able to send Nuvo shuffling
around my apartment to snap photographs, which it relayed to me. In Japan
users often use Nuvo to check on their children, sometimes from remote
locations. . . ."

Not quite ready for prime time, but soon, very soon, IMHO!

--
Bobby G.