Robotics & Automation News

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UBTECH launches portable social robot with ‘loving AI’

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UBTECH has launched a portable social robot with what the company describes as “loving” artificial intelligence.

AlphaMini, a portable humanoid robot, which is is said to be able to chat, read, sing and dance, made its debut today in South Korea.

Built by UBTECH robotics, a manufacturer of intelligent humanoid robotics and AI technologies, the cute-looking creature combines advanced robotics and highly extensible AI platform to give you the most intimate human-robot interactive experiences. [Read more…] about UBTECH launches portable social robot with ‘loving AI’

4 AI Functions Already Up and Running in 2019 That’ll Leave You Speechless

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Despite the fact that AI is already being utilised in a huge variety of ways by a myriad of industry, it’s still perceived as being an emergent technology, something of great promise yet to materialise. This couldn’t be further from reality.

These four examples of AI and machine learning have already been saving you time and effort for years at this point, but it’s only really in the last few years that they’ve become completely viable and effective. I mean, remember Siri when it first came out? Spectacularly hit and miss.

AI, along with machine learning, has made a massive number of things possible across industries, proving critical to many different tech platforms. 37% of organisations have been found to utilise AI in some form. [Read more…] about 4 AI Functions Already Up and Running in 2019 That’ll Leave You Speechless

Smart homes to drive consumer robotics demand to 39 million shipments a year by 2024

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Smart homes are predicted to drive the demand for consumer robotics to 39 million shipments a year by 2024, according to analysis by ABI Research.

But a “disconnect between smart home and home robotics offerings has been a factor limiting home robotics adoption”. says ABI.

Pricing, availability, and consumer awareness have been factors too, but a new study finds that robot vendors increasingly see value in supporting the integration of their devices into smart home functionality. [Read more…] about Smart homes to drive consumer robotics demand to 39 million shipments a year by 2024

Six new trends in home automation

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Amazon Echo Dot
Amazon’s Echo Dot, the voice-controlled Alexa-enabled device, can connect to a wide range of your smart home gadgets

By Megan Wild, editor of YourWildHome.com

It’s an exciting time to be a homeowner, but it can also be overwhelming. It seems every week there is a new smart home product on the market that can automate various aspects of your life, and it can be tough to decide which direction to go.

Like all new technology, there is a certain amount of risk involved. You don’t want to jump on something too early, only for it to be outdated and forgotten about a year later.

On the flip side, there is also that natural feeling of wanting to keep up with the trends in order to maximize your home value — not to mention take advantage of all of the cool features many of these devices have.

Here are six trends in smart home automation that are relatively safe bets for the foreseeable future.  [Read more…] about Six new trends in home automation

How Burger King’s OK Google ad exposed flaws in home automation

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Burger King recently decided to try something different to promote its classic Whopper. The fast food giant aired a commercial in which a Burger King employee who says he doesn’t have time to talk about all of the ingredients in a Whopper comes up with another way for customers to learn about its ingredients.

The employee leans into the camera and says “OK Google, what is the Whopper burger?” This activated Google’s smart speakers — Google Home, and that’s when people started having fun. The actual ingredient list, as published on Wikipedia, was edited with some items replaced with things like children, toe-nail clippings and rat — among other creative ingredients.

Google wasn’t in on the plan, which led to an interesting chain of events that exposed some of the weaknesses of virtual assistants and home automation.  [Read more…] about How Burger King’s OK Google ad exposed flaws in home automation