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This looks really cool and I’m sure the tech can be used to do all kinds of interesting things, but I’m struggling to think of an actual use case for the produc
by neitherboosh 5y ago
This looks really cool and I’m sure the tech can be used to do all kinds of interesting things, but I’m struggling to think of an actual use case for the product. From the marketing and price it seems to be directed towards consumers—is there anything this can do for me that a backpack can’t do? Still want one, anyway.
- 2OEH8eoCRo0 5y agoI thought a dead simple military application would be sentries. Have them patrolling around FOBs, return and charge when they need to, fresh ones go out. Unarmed of course.
- lostlogin 5y agoThis is done in Black Mirror, Season 4 episode 5 Metalhead. It’s terrifying. The dogs were armed.
- _carbyau_ 5y agoI like Black Mirror. Like an extension of the argument that "guns don't shoot people, people shoot people", Black Mirror displays the equation, XYZcoolTech+people = horrifying. Apply that here and you can bet that "florida robot dog does stupid thing" will be a headline in the future.
- 2OEH8eoCRo0 5y ago"The street finds its own uses for things." - William Gibson
- 2OEH8eoCRo0 5y agohttps://williamgibson.fandom.com/wiki/Slamhound https://williamgibson.fandom.com/wiki/Slamhound
- tailspin2019 5y ago> Unarmed of course. I admire your optimism!
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- 2OEH8eoCRo0 5y agoHow many autonomous armed robots does the US currently use?
- tailspin2019 5y agoIs that a trick question? Do flying ones count?
- _hyn3 5y agoThe grandparent said autonomous armed robots that are currently in use (which excludes under development). As far as we know, the answer to that question is zero, unless you might count a missile as an autonomous flying robot (but even that still has to be launched by human).
- AndrewKemendo 5y agoZero
- tailspin2019 5y ago> is there anything this can do for me that a backpack can’t do? I agree it’s early enough that the tangible uses for this type of tech are still a bit blurry to us. But I also think this is a bit like saying “is there anything a car can do for me that my legs can’t do?” It depends on what criteria you evaluate it on. Yes you can move from A to B on your own steam, of course. But automation is incremental. These things aren’t a significant obvious benefit, until they are. Scalability is one thing. Comparing writing notes in my iPad to writing them on paper, at first glance doesn’t look much different, apart from that the iPad can effectively store a lifetime worth of notes, easily searchable, shareable, linkable etc. Its scalability potential (for this use case) is almost infinite. When evaluating these sorts of things it’s worth bearing in mind the “leverage” that the tech might give us, that we didn’t have before. This scalability/leverage benefit is often not immediately obvious until you look a little bit below the surface. This robot dog might start off by carrying your water bottle but later it might be able to also carry a foldable chair, a waking stick, food and water, and a communications device, suddenly meaning that someone with limited mobility can actually go out for a walk on their own and have everything they might need carried alongside them as a mobile support system. That person just gained a little bit of extra freedom. At the enhancement end of the spectrum, an athlete could use this “support robot” to extend the possible range of their training runs. I do wonder about the near term use cases for this sort of tech (at this price point) for people with disabilities of various kinds. Often leading edge tech starts out in the realm of compensating for disabilities for a smaller audience before progressing to being looked upon as an “enhancement” for a wider audience (because it becomes affordable enough and useful enough to start to appeal to people who don’t need to compensate for any particular issue but see it as a net convenience worth paying for).
- nemo44x 5y agoIt could probably be programmed to fetch me a beer. Or walk around the yard serving appetizers to guests during a BBQ. It could also be an effective scarecrow I imagine. When planting certain things it would be nice to reliably keep the birds and varmint away.
- robertlagrant 5y agoI'd quite like it to just walk next to me and have a power cable to a drone that hovers and holds my coffee. #winning
- tailspin2019 5y agoI 100% buy into this vision.
- rcpt 5y agoCarrying groceries 10 blocks in NYC isn't the easiest thing. This would help. But if you live in car dominated sprawl then idk.
- ALittleLight 5y agoI want one of these. However, they say the payload is only 2kg. Won't carry that many groceries.
- morcheeba 5y agoThe obvious solution to carrying 20kg would be to have 10 of these robots following you.
- posnet 5y agoI think there was a lost opportunity with the latest 101 dalmatians remake.
- sudosysgen 5y agoPerhaps it can pull a trailer?
- DoreenMichele 5y agoI'm seriously handicapped and have a dog phobia thanks to ugly events in early childhood. My handicap makes having actual animals in my home a bad idea anyway for cleanliness reasons. While $2700 is way out of my price range -- handicapped people tend to have tight budgets -- I can absolutely see a tremendous market for companion animals for people allergic to animals, with a dog phobia etc. Especially if they could add some fetching capabilities, this could be enormously useful to many people. Our population is aging and unlike other populations with physical limitations, people whose limitations are primarily age related sometimes have money. Sometimes lots of money in fact.
- jiofih 5y agoThis is much more of an industrial robot than a pet. And 20 minute battery life.
- DoreenMichele 5y agoCompanion animals are not pets. They are working animals. Battery life has a tendency to change over time. For someone largely housebound, it wouldn't much matter. They could be on a tether plugged into a wall even and still do good things for many people.
- jiofih 5y agoI meant it’s not fit for a companion. It wouldn’t have agency, “keep you company” in any sense or understand your needs like animals can be trained to do. It’s a sharp, computerized tool.
- DoreenMichele 5y agoI don't know a better term for what I am thinking of. I don't think it has to be able to serve that specific function in order to be useful to someone with significant limitations. I can see where the miscommunication comes from, but I think my point stands. For handicapped people, a mechanical dog that can carry, fetch items for them, help them get up, light their way, etc is potentially very useful.