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By Richard Griffin
Friday, June 16, 2006
Exerpt courtesy TownOnline.com
Eerily, wordlessly, Eve moved toward me across the auditorium at
Lasell College. As she got closer, I feared that she would
run into my midsection. Her double, Lucy, was at the
back of the hall; at least I would have to deal with only one of them.
Perhaps I could stop Eve by speaking to her. I suggested this to
the young woman who was with her. No, the woman explained, this
humanoid robot had been programmed to respond to her voice alone
(Editor's note: For privacy reasons).
Eve and Lucy measure some 5 feet high and have metal skin with pieces
bolted to one another (Editor's note: The two piece shroud is all plastic).
They were visiting from the state of Georgia. The
people who drove them to the conference had disassembled them before
leaving and then, on arriving, had carefully put them back together.
The spokesman for the company that has developed these pseudo-people believes
they will become standard issue in the homes of the future. R.
Martin Spencer, CEO of GeckoSystems Inc. claims that "mobile service
robots" will perform many functions and revolutionize elder care.
In Japan some nine companies are already developing eldercare robots; in the
United States at least four.
Adopting Spencer's vision, let me predict that a frequent 80th birthday
present, 30 years from now, will be an Eve like the one I encountered at
the conference. Family members will want their elders to have
this electronic helper at hand to assist with medical reminders and
household tasks.
Further, I fantasize that cousins of Eve and Lucy will appear in the bridal
registries of the future. These creatures will be programmed for such
routine duties as housecleaning and serving drinks and meals. In the
more distant future, I expect these mechanical servants to become as common at
home as computers are nowadays. ....
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