:talkingfuture.com Come and learn about the future…

Thomas: I like to think there are two types of lazy in the world, passive lazy and active lazy. A passively lazy man would be happy sat in front of a TV all day, only standing up to get a beer and some crisps from the fridge. Then you have your actively lazy man, the type of man who would put in the up front effort to ensure future laziness went uninterrupted. For instance, it was surely an actively lazy man that invented the TV remote control! The next logical step would be an ‘electronic slave’, a robotic servant that could make me a sandwich, open a beer, iron a shirt and generally do my bidding! How long till I can spend more time sitting down?

Martin: Not sure if “electronic slave” will get past the focus groups, but a Robot would be great for helping out with life’s chores. The easiest way to imagine a Robot is like Kryten or Asimo in a humanoid form. Unfortunately this would require some amazingly complicated mechanicals, software and electronics. It is much simpler to build an intelligent machine that is suited to task in hand. An ironing robot would be a lot different to one that took the dog for a walk.

Even if it were simple to make a humanoid robot many people would find it a little too creepy. Would you like ASIMO walking around your house or a non descript white box doing chores?

Thomas: That’s a good question! I can imagine some cases where a nice humanoid form would be good, but I can also imagine it might be a bit creepy. If you check this video you can see an example of probably the most human looking robot I’ve seen so far (beat Kryten by a parsec!), but if you look closely there is nothing behind the eyes, no soul, and that just leaves me feeling cold. The beauty of the human form is that we’re completely multipurpose. I can run, jump, balance on one leg, ride a bike, drive a car, cartwheel and I’ve even got a matching set of opposable thumbs. As you said, all that motion and dexterity is tricky to emulate. I was looking at the Robosapien V2, as a possible addition to my ever expanding toy collection, but I have to say I was pretty disapointed with the level of maneuverability you got for well over £100. I wasn’t expecting ASIMO but a Robosapien has the walk of a Penguin (surprisingly efficient actually!) teamed up with the IQ of a Furby.

I suppose the ‘electronic helper’ will not come in the form of a human, but in the form of what we already own. Over the next decade we’ll just see an increase in the ‘intelligence’ and autonomy of devices we already have.

Martin: The last sentence hits the nail on the head. It is much more realistic that we will see existing appliances gaining some form of intelligence. It already possible to make a fridge that emails Mr Morrison when you need some milk. Imagine if your GPS enabled phone could contact your house when you are nearly home from work to turn on the heating and pre-heat the oven. When you are in the house intelligent climate systems could link the central heating with windows and blinds to control the temperature. I suppose there are no great leaps needed to make any of this happen, just a combination of existing but currently separate technologies.

I’ve always been intrigued by those automatic lawnmowers and vacuums that patrol the garden or house all day working away quietly, would you buy one of those?

Thomas: Funny you should mention that, my vacuum is intermittently broken and I’ve been auditioning replacements for a couple of weeks. I looked at the Roomba, but it seems to get mixed reviews at best. I’m sure in the right shape of house with the right carpet it’d be fine, but I got the impression I’d come home from work to find it wedged up onto the rug, frantically spinning it’s little wheels! Mr Dyson turned his eye to the problem a few years ago, and seemed to have a product ready to bring to market, but for some reason it was pulled at the last minute. I don’t know if the problem is getting something small enough navigate the maze of table and chair legs in the average room, having enough power to actually clean the surface properly, having a battery pack capable of lasting the day, or a combination of all three!

The other notable problem with the Dyson was the hilarious asking price (even by Dysons normal standards!). Still, if they could make one that actually worked, I might just be tempted…