4 ms·

I know most of the initial applications of Spot are going to be industrial or law enforcement / military. But I'm sure these are gonna start showing up in comme

I know most of the initial applications of Spot are going to be industrial or law enforcement / military. But I'm sure these are gonna start showing up in commercial and even retail settings, probably sooner than many of us have truly considered. It's kinda weird to think that maybe sometime in the next decade I'm gonna need to double take as I watch a Spot Mini just casually walk down a street carrying out some mundane task.

huis 7y ago
Not a lot of people know this but Google Glass was very popular amongst farmers. And this is also a robot that could benefit farmers. I also can see those robots carry stuff around. For example for a plumber who has a job in a city with parking problems. Ofcourse all those applications depend on the price but there will always be people who can think if this as a tool in a way you can't think of.
obituary_latte 7y ago
It’s strange seeing bots showing up already. Our local grocery chain has robots - tall, lanky and uncoordinated - rolling around the stores with their two glowing eyes looking for spills to alert a human to come clean. The last time I saw one, it was relentlessly circling a scuff mark near the entrance to the back stockroom. Twenty minutes later as I’m getting ready to leave, the bot was still there seemingly totally confounded by this dark and utterly harmless streak on the floor. A nearby employee stocking the shelves rolled his eyes as he told a fellow shopper of the many tens-of-thousands of dollars this machine cost.
- samcday 7y ago
  You make a great point. We have a lot of sci-fi that's been conditioning us to the idea of a world shared with a large cast of robotic members. I'm a geek who loves those kinds of fantasies. Yet, when I saw that fancy robotic espresso-maker in SF [1], I still reverted to childlike wonder state :) The way the robotic arm gives you a cheeky little wave when it's finished making your coffee is the perfect touch. [1]: https://techcrunch.com/2017/01/30/cafe-x-opens-in-san-francisco-bringing-robots-to-the-coffee-shop/ https://techcrunch.com/2017/01/30/cafe-x-opens-in-san-franci...
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
  - amelius 7y ago
    Most of sci-fi paints a dark picture about a future with robots, though, and perhaps rightfully so. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18300084 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18300084 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HipTO_7mUOw&vl=en https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HipTO_7mUOw&vl=en
    - erikpukinskis 7y ago
      Indeed and perhaps wrongfully so as well.
- ortusdux 7y ago
  I don't understand how 2 cameras on a 20K+ robot is cheaper/better/easier than 20+ fixed cameras that look for changes to the floor.

huis 7y ago

Not a lot of people know this but Google Glass was very popular amongst farmers. And this is also a robot that could benefit farmers. I also can see those robots carry stuff around. For example for a plumber who has a job in a city with parking problems. Ofcourse all those applications depend on the price but there will always be people who can think if this as a tool in a way you can't think of.

obituary_latte 7y ago

It’s strange seeing bots showing up already. Our local grocery chain has robots - tall, lanky and uncoordinated - rolling around the stores with their two glowing eyes looking for spills to alert a human to come clean. The last time I saw one, it was relentlessly circling a scuff mark near the entrance to the back stockroom. Twenty minutes later as I’m getting ready to leave, the bot was still there seemingly totally confounded by this dark and utterly harmless streak on the floor. A nearby employee stocking the shelves rolled his eyes as he told a fellow shopper of the many tens-of-thousands of dollars this machine cost.

samcday 7y ago
You make a great point. We have a lot of sci-fi that's been conditioning us to the idea of a world shared with a large cast of robotic members. I'm a geek who loves those kinds of fantasies. Yet, when I saw that fancy robotic espresso-maker in SF [1], I still reverted to childlike wonder state :) The way the robotic arm gives you a cheeky little wave when it's finished making your coffee is the perfect touch. [1]: https://techcrunch.com/2017/01/30/cafe-x-opens-in-san-francisco-bringing-robots-to-the-coffee-shop/ https://techcrunch.com/2017/01/30/cafe-x-opens-in-san-franci...
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- amelius 7y ago
  Most of sci-fi paints a dark picture about a future with robots, though, and perhaps rightfully so. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18300084 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18300084 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HipTO_7mUOw&vl=en https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HipTO_7mUOw&vl=en
  - erikpukinskis 7y ago
    Indeed and perhaps wrongfully so as well.
ortusdux 7y ago
I don't understand how 2 cameras on a 20K+ robot is cheaper/better/easier than 20+ fixed cameras that look for changes to the floor.