‘Telepresence’ Robots Help at the Office
Milwaukee — Shortly before New Year’s Day, a ten-person team combed through the 18-story building on Northwestern Mutual’s downtown campus here seeking an elusive culprit: the poinsettia plant. At home, Amy Lamb, who works in the insurer’s software development and support area, was waiting to hear the results of their search to determine when she could return to the office. For six years, Lamb has been forced by a severe poinsettia...
Robot ‘Personal Assistants’ Could Become Your New Best Friend
You may not have unwrapped a robot on Christmas, but your new year will be filled with artificial intelligence. Facebook, Google, Microsoft and other technology companies, large and small, are making rapid advancements with virtual personal assistants that can solve problems and even complete tasks. “We’re going to start to see more personal assistants, and the ones that are already online will get more useful,” said Brian Blau, an...
Obama Talks Link Between Robots, Jobs
Washington — In one of his first attempts at selling the just-completed Trans-Pacific Partnership, President Obama made a statement about what’s actually ailing the American worker. Offshoring might have sent a lot of jobs overseas in recent years, he told the radio show Marketplace, but the current headwind is robots. “Frankly when you look at job loss and lost leverage, automation and technology has probably contributed more than...
Social Robots Want to Help at Home
When most people think of robots, they either think of hulking Terminators or the types of dumb industrial robots taking part in a future robot uprising. But there’s another class of robot that’s also gaining traction — social robots that cost less than $1,000 and are designed for the home. They are more WALL-E than Terminator, and are meant to be personal companions and even “one of the family.” For all the stories about the perils...
Japanese Tech Firm Offers Childlike Robot With ‘Heart’
Urayasu, Japan — Technology company Softbank’s Pepper robot went on sale in Japan on Saturday, equipped with a “heart” designed to not only recognize human emotions but react with simulations of anger, joy and irritation. The robot, which has no legs and moves on wheels, was shown to reporters and guests at a Tokyo area theater Thursday. It has a hairless head and moving arms and went through a year of software development after first...
