Hacker News Reader

Comment by sillysaurus3 | Hacker News Reader

The central problem with this idea is noise and creepiness. Nobody wants a noisy robot, and roboticists tend to produce creepy ones. Both problems might be solvable, but I think robotics tends to focus on the technical problems at the exclusion of the aesthetics. It's definitely a startup idea.

View on HN

What you're describing are separate concerns that I'm sure will be addressed before they're brought to market. Currently they're focussed on getting the robot to be able to learn from example. Spending a lot of time on aesthetics at the expense of getting the learning to work doesn't make sense at this point. You're exactly right that they're focussing on the technical problems: that's what needs to be solved. Once it works as expected, then they can focus on improving the aesthetics. A startup that focussed on making robots that look good but aren't effective at accomplishing tasks would likely have a very limited market.

Yeah, fair enough. I was thinking that BigDog was an example of this that works today, but the military passed on it because it was too noisy. But it didn't really do anything but move around.

People with central air handlers find the creaking and snapping of radiator heating very creepy, whereas radiator people find the whoooooosh of air handlers creepy. Kitchen appliances randomly and insistently beeping would likely have totally freaked out an ancestor just 200 years ago. The idea of voices and pictures of humans coming out of boxes was initially kinda disturbing. To say nothing of the sound of car vs horse.

I wouldn't consider this creepy.

https://cdn0.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/XV2kBAa21cI8yKgmfm90EwYalA0...

Nor these:

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/2b/87/e5/2b87e5634...

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/2e/a5/fc/2ea5...

https://3c1703fe8d.site.internapcdn.net/newman/gfx/news/hire...

https://cdn.thisiswhyimbroke.com/images/kuri-home-robot1.jpg

Have you saw them working in real life? Can't say about others but the first one is, maybe not creepy, rather looks like fake and cheap. Usually standing in one place, stuttering movement, etc. I don't want to say it is worthless. You have to start somewhere. But we are far away from the smooth and immediate reactions.

Has anyone asked WHY robots NEED to have humanoid bodies?

I can see the case for familiarity, especially for robotic pets and attendants for children, but the human body and its limbs are the result of millions of years of evolution, in conditions that don't exist or apply anymore.

It had to adapt to being born naked and having to grow up, possibly on its own, and feeding itself and fending for itself...

I mean, consider wheels vs. legs. You don't see the former anywhere in nature, but it's the most efficient mode of locomotion in human society.

Why aren't we exploring more efficient robotic bodies that would also be easier to program?

Say, a rotating trunk-like body with multiple octopus-like tentacles with suckers instead of fingers. Just an idea. Or a robot that is actually a swarm of ant-like machines.

There will be useful cases for robots of all body types. BUT we humans have created a humanoid world where the human form makes sense. As such we'll need robots that mimic that for certain functions.

For example wheels, they're easier to do that legs (by far) but gets stuck on cables, carpets and stairs.

I wouldn't mind a creepy, noisy robot if it did the chores for me while I was at work and away from the house. I would be more concerned about safety with small children. Mine often find unpredictable ways to injure themselves with inert small objects, so I would imagine the possibilities with a larger, moving machine would be larger.

That's because the aesthetics are relatively easy to improve once the difficult technical problems are solved.

We're still in the research phase, so polish isn't important (unless perhaps if giving a demo to an outside investor who isn't tech-savvy).

Do you mean acoustic noise? Both noise and aesthetics are far simpler problems to solve than autonomous learning. I don't think there's much of a market for realistic, quiet robots until the central problem has been solved.

Several of the robots around my home (dishwasher, washing machine, etc.) make noise, and I already accept them. If another robot adds value, even with noise or creepiness, I cannot imagine rejecting it over those concerns.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com