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CES 2015: The robots moving in to your house
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The modern family is getting a new member.
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More than a dozen firms are promoting new kinds of home robots at this year's Consumer
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Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas.
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None are the human-like automatons of science-fiction. But they do point the way towards how domestic
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bots might evolve beyond the robo-vacuum.
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South Korea's Furo-i Home is one of the more advanced examples.
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It's a sleek-looking sensor-laden cone on wheels topped by a tablet that displays a
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friendly-looking animated droid's face.
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You can verbally instruct it to take control of internet-controlled smart devices - telling
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it to turn lights, music and heating on or off - use it as a teaching aid for your children,
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or take advantage of its health check software to help care for elderly relations.
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"The robot has many sensors, facial recognition and can detect the temperature," explains
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Se-Kyong Song, chief executive of its maker Futurebot.
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"You can set it to wake up an elderly parent, remind them to take their medicine, eat breakfast
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and follow the rest of a schedule.
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"And if something unexpected happens, it can send a message to the family saying there
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might be a problem and then let them talk to their parent via video chat to ask if they
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are OK."
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The machine is set to cost about $1,000 (£660) and Futurebot hopes to make and sell about
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10,000 before the year's end.
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Those looking for a cheaper alternative might be interested in Ukrainian start-up Branto,
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which has just announced a crowdfunding campaign for a robotic sphere priced at $399.
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Although it lacks a screen of its own, it promises broadly similar functions, including
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the ability to send you a notification if its motion sensor is triggered when your house
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is supposed to be empty.
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There is one important caveat - at present the prototype's battery only lasts for about
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three hours before it stops providing most functions.
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"We are trying to make it longer, but the device is very small and we want to keep it
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looking nice," says Alexandra Barsukova, the start-up's business development director.
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Most of the other robots at CES are focused on doing a more limited set of tasks - and
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that may be a wise strategy suggests Casey Nobile from the Robotics Trends news site.
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"It's very hard to make a robot do everything, like in the Jetsons analogy that everyone
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likes to refer to," she explains.
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"You're going to see advances in robots controlling other smart home tech via software before
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you see something like a machine with an arm that makes you coffee and delivers it to your
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bedroom, just because of the limitations with manipulation technology and the issues with
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battery life."
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Droplet is one example of a more specialist robot.
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The machine is an internet-connected sprinkler that can be set to propel different amounts
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of water to different plants in its surrounding area.
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"We can accurately target two plants less than 6in [15cm] away from each other and give
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them very different amounts of water," explains Steve Fernholz, the firm's founder.
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"And we take into account weather data, so if there's an 80% chance of a thunderstorm
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tonight it'll delay and wait to see if the rain actually falls."
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He believes most people will be more comfortable with such a device at this stage rather than
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an automaton wandering through their home.
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"It's not about when the technology is ready, it's when consumers feel comfortable enough
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about having a robot in their home. It's a very personal space.
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"That's why even with Droplet we tried to make it look inviting - not something you
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would feel apprehensive going up to or might give you anxiety."