Consumer Robotics: Past or Future

The robotics industry is expanding dramatically, with consumer robotics expected to be the largest market segment thanks to exciting advances and new applications.

First came Roomba a robotic vaccum cleaner and now we are witnessing a change in the demands of consumers. Companies are now coming up with the robots which can connect us with others or if we say in the words of industry who can spy on us.

Dominated by home-cleaning gadgets, the consumer robotics market is expanding with the arrival of 'bots that can spy inside your home when you're away or arrange virtual meetings of family or friends.

"As these kinds of devices mature in the years ahead, I expect them to gradually become more sophisticated in terms of providing gestures, object interaction such as picking things up, and eventually moving toward a more human shape.

It's designed to enable parents on a business trip to feel they're almost at home. For example, a parent could remotely send the wheeled robot into a bedroom, where the children could open a book in front of the robot's camera. The parent could then read the story aloud and watch and hear the kids' reactions. The family could also converse.

Spykee the WiFi spy robot, developed by France-based Meccano and marketed in the U.S. by Erector, best known for its Erector Set kits, has tank-style track wheels, two decorative mechanical arms and a camera on top that looks vaguely like a human head.

Below are the images of the above mentioned two devices, the iRobots vaccumm cleaner with web-cam

and Spykee