Chuck, I think those are totally legitimate concerns. I hope designers of these systems--and more importantly, the implementers, not just the engineers--will take those experiences under consideration and save us all some grief. There's a lot of work going on to foster better robot/human interaction and communication. But note I said "I hope" not "I think."
Reading this story and listening to the ensuing discussion, it scares me to think of how pervsive robots will be in 50 years. Just look at how automated phone systems have proliferated in the past 30 years. And think of how frustrating those can be.
Yes Ann we should go with technology but not 100%. Its a must that there should be humans too involved in decision making process. If not it will be a disaster
Jack, I get the same impression of the service model, but I'm not assuming anything. It's not clear from the article what recourse customers have when there's a problem, and there are always problems, eventually.
Ann, I got the impression that this particular application is almost like a a sit-down version of fast food. Not too much variation and a human enters the order to begin with. I would imagine that the idea would be something like these self-check-out stations at grocery stores (that I refuse to use for anything over 3 items). If someone does have an issue, there is probably an "overseer" available handling a number of tables.
I agree with a.saji--this model of service assumes customers know exactly what they want and that there's no problem with the food served. How do you tell the robot waiter "There's a fly in my soup" or "My steak is overdone"?
That's simply amazing but I feel the human touch will be missed here. A robot cannot get what the customer's exact expressions plus it cannot suggest based upon seeing what the customer wants at that moment itself. Robots are programmed so it will work based upon a pre-defined set of codes.
Freedonia said that, since less developed countries have many more of the type of jobs that robots typically replace--repetitive and simple tasks--those countries will experience more job replacement than more "developed" countries that have already automated and have more advanced, harder-to-replace jobs currently done by humans. For instance, China's Foxconn is on the verge of solving its labor disputes/scandals by ordering something like a million robots in the next year or so, according to various news reports.
Chuck speaks to the snooty aspect I meant in French waiters. I haven't been to France in years. From what Elizabeth said, it sounds like waiters there now are just obnoxious in the same ways they are everywhere else.
UK-based Plastic Logic and French company ISORG have created what the pair tout as a first in flexible printed electronics: a large area, conformable, organic image sensor printed on plastic.
For 3D printing to make the jump from rapid prototyping to manufacturing, engineers will need to find easier ways to move products from their CAD screens to their printers.
Gigabit and PoE are two networking technologies moving ahead in tandem as industrial users power remote Ethernet devices such as IP security cameras at 1,000 Mbps over existing CAT5 cable.
From Dell / Intel® New Paradigms in Design Work Scott Hamilton, vertical market strategist for Dell Precision workstations, 5/2/2013 5
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For industrial control applications, or even a simple assembly line, that machine can go almost 24/7 without a break. But what happens when the task is a little more complex? That’s where the “smart” machine would come in. The smart machine is one that has some simple (or complex in some cases) processing capability to be able to adapt to changing conditions. Such machines are suited for a host of applications, including automotive, aerospace, defense, medical, computers and electronics, telecommunications, consumer goods, and so on. This radio show will show what’s possible with smart machines, and what tradeoffs need to be made to implement such a solution.
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