In these few years, AI is started to become a popular topic, people are discussing can robot replace ___? I do not think a robot can replace a specific thing, but somehow I do think that people may actually have a demand for the robot especially “Animal Robot”.
Nowadays, people invest so many different pet robot. Robot of dogs, cats or even fish. I agree that a pet robot cannot replace a real pet, but why do people still invest “pet robot” and what does the pet robot really do.
Dog Robot – AIBO
It is a dog robot made by Sony and called “AIBO”. It shaped like a dog and act like a real dog. They understand people commands, chase a ball like a dog you seen in daily life. They can learn and grow even smarter overtimes. Actually, they really act like a real dog, people love puppy dog because they are cute, they can do what you ask for, maybe a “high-five” or just stay with you and be docile all day long.
Having a real dog, people need to do much more than they thought, feed them every day, spend time with them and of coz take care of their poo. People can not let the pet stay can home alone for so long, even a family want to travel, they must figure out where the pet can stay and who can take care of them. If you are young and you got the time to take care of all of it, it is good, a pet is always your friend.
If not, pet robot may be your good choice of having a pet.
Elderly and kid may have a huge demand for “pet robot”. Children and elderly are those people that want a pet to spend time with so that they can feel less lonely, but they may not have the skills to take care of a pet properly. They may forget to feed them or they can not actually play with them by taking the pet for a walk daily and running or chasing with them because elderly or children may have difficulty in walking. Having a pet robot can solve all these problems since the robot can recharge its battery by themselves, analyze people’ facial expressions to pick up their personality.
Let’s take “AIBO” as an example if their owner back home with a smiley face and cheerful, AIBO will dance and jump around their owner try to show them love and welcome them home. If not, it can notice that the owner had a bad day, it will be docile and try not to bother.
Being a pet robot, it contains so many sensors, they are allowed to take photos and reads people’s facial expressions to remember 100 different people. It will customize the actions to what each person likes and dislikes. It can also be tools besides as a pet since it has a camera inside their body or eyes, their owner can access and use it just like a cam to look after their home when they are back to the office or travelling.
Fish Robot – Sofi
When I was young, there is a TV program from ATV called “Telefishion”, it is a programme that shows a lot of fish swimming in a tank, no people voice over, no story just about swimming fish. Although, it is nothing special still have some people willing to watch because they enjoy watching the fish swimming around.
People may want the joy of watching the fish swimming but do not want to feed them, clean the than or keep them healthy, so the fish robot has demand. Besides being a pet, the fish robot can also be a useful tool, they can be used for scientific and help in collecting data of the ocean, help in spy the health of the ocean or disclose some mysterious animal live underwater.
Animal Robot can really help people in different way, although they are not a must for all the people, they do have a need for some of us. They can be a useful tool to work with or a friendly partner to stay with.
References
1.Carey, B. (2018, November 28). My week with Aibo: What it’s like to live with Sony’s robot dog. Retrieved from https://www.cnet.com/news/my-week-with-aibo-what-its-like-to-live-with-sonys-robot-dog/
2.Vincent, J. (2018, March 21). A realistic robot fish could help scientists spy on secretive sea life. Retrieved from https://www.theverge.com/2018/3/21/17143778/robot-fish-realistic-sofi-mit-csail-marine-exploration
3.Tomlinson, P. (2018, October 23). The truth about robot cats and dogs: Can they replace real pets? Retrieved from https://www.scmp.com/native/tech/topics/premier-living/article/2169625/truth-about-robot-cats-and-dogs-can-they-replace
Tammy's Blog 