And make no mistake: That’s the goal. Leila Takayama, a researcher at Willow Garage, says that she hopes robots become “unremarkable” in society, and “[that] they’re just so useful, just so faded into the background that we don’t notice that they’re there all the time.” To help further that intention, Takayama is researching how to make robots more “human-friendly” and has even teamed up with an animator and sound designer at The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS)‘s Pixar Animation Studios.
Of course, there’s a way to go before robots become as commonplace as, say, a cell phone. Among other things, robots have to be able to adapt to different environments, and then there’s the whole safety thing – no one wants a dangerous ‘bot. But with RoboEarth’s recent announcement, that day could be a bit closer. Markus Waibel, one of the researchers at RoboEarth, describes Rapyuta as a sort of Wikipedia, or brain, for robots. The goal, he states, is to create a proof-of-concept demonstration that shows how robots can perform beyond their preprogrammed behaviors and speed up learning. Additionally, he states that this would allow robots to adapt to the “complexities of human environments”.
Waibel goes on to state that this concept is similar to Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s, but different in that Google’s isn’t geared toward robots, and has limitations such as parsing scenes. Additionally, Rapyuta allows robots to learn from the experiences of other robots, which in theory could make the robots smarter as they generate data. Waibel admits that this conjures images of SkyNet, but he assures people that’s not possible, as the robots aren’t communicating with each other; They’re communicating with a “centralized computing infrastructure run by humans”. Phew…
At this point, readers might be traumatized by visions of homicidal terminators. But let’s remember — that’s fiction, not reality. The reality is that robots could very well be the next big thing in technology. Yes, right now they’re expensive, and they don’t work like we’d like them too, but computers had the same problems not too long ago. As technology progresses, and robots become more functional, we’ll likely see them in expanding roles, whether defense, medical, manufacturing, or personal. Consequently, investing in robotics now could be akin to investing in Apple or Microsoft before they took off – and, seriously, who doesn’t want a personal servant?
The article Rise of the Machines: Are We Headed Toward SkyNet? originally appeared on Fool.com.
Fool contributor Katie Spence has no position in any stocks mentioned. Follow her on Twitter @TMFKSpence. The Motley Fool recommends Google, Intuitive Surgical, and iRobot. The Motley Fool owns shares of Google, Intuitive Surgical, and Microsoft.
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