Robots, it seems, are everywhere ”” ranging from microbots, which are tiny black dots to the naked eye, to bots that resemble bees and bats, to gigantic models.
Titan, a 9-foot rental robot, is being carted out at marketing events, even a Rihanna concert, to mingle with the masses. New York University graduate student Marko Manriquez recently built a robot that makes burritos. And scientists at University of Tokyo’s Ishikawa Oku Labs designed a robot that specializes in, and wins, rock-paper-scissors games.
Experts predict that within 10 years, general-purpose robots ”” at $25,000 to $30,000 per unit ”” will perform house chores while consumers are at work; or serve as butlers at cocktail parties. “We are putting robots into people’s lives,” says Sarjoun Skaff, co-founder and chief technology officer of Bossa Nova Robotics, which is developing a robot maid modeled after The Jetsons’ Rosie for less than $5,000.