That’s because Amazon has set in motion a plan already several years old to build a robot for the home, according to a new report.
Robots are already being used to build cars, perform surgeries and look after the elderly, but domestic robots may be coming to a home near you faster than you imagined.
That’s because Amazon has set in motion a “top-secret” plan to build a robot for the home, according to a stunning new report from Bloomberg. The project –- already several years old – is bring run out of Lab 126, a division of the company known for creating products like the Echo and the Kindle.
Known as “Vesta,” the domestic robot project is in the midst of a hiring frenzy that could result in a purchasable product as early as next year, Bloomberg reported. The robots’ potential skill set remains unknown, but the machine could behave like a “mobile Alexa,” the virtual assistant developed by Amazon. (Amazon chief executive Jeff Bezos is the owner of The Washington Post.)
Bloomberg reports that prototypes of the robot include cameras and software that allow the robot to navigate a home, leading some to speculate that Vesta will function like a roving Alexa.
We’re still years, perhaps decades, away from Rosey, the iconic housekeeper from “The Jetsons,” according to Siddhartha S. Srinivasa, a professor of robotics at University of Washington’s Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering.
He expects robotics innovation to continue unfolding with gradual advances in ability and functionality abetted by unexpected breakthroughs. “The Holy Grail,” he said, is the robot that not only moves around, but physically interacts with the world around it.
Among the challenges: Designing homes that are compatible with robot movements. It’s much easier to design a robot that moves around a factory floor than it is to design one that can sidestep an ever-changing landscape of dirty clothes piles and children’s toys.
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