German restaurant replaces waitstaff with robots

The German restaurant in Nuremberg, Germany, seems to have fired all its waitstaff and replaced them all by robots. The robots are some kind of automated system that makes use of gravity-powered rail system to deliver the meals. So, we human are in the very high risk of losing our jobs. At least now for the waitresses and waiters have already lost their jobs in Germany. And this could be followed by some other restaurants from all over the world as it definitely involves much cheaper operational cost, which could only be a one-time investment and followed by some periodic maintenance costs. Furthermore, less or perhaps zero mistakes will be made by robots or computers. Of course, the kind of robot-operated restaurants definitely loses the kind of fun for customers, as robots won’t stay as highly interactive as human, such as I don’t think it’s fun to flirt with a robotic waitress. Opps, maybe I’m wrong, remember we’ve seen a robotic BF before that is even more romantic than a real guy. So, it seems like a robot-operated restaurant could stay as much fun as a human-operated one.

via [gIZmODo]

Bandai’s new robot insect toy – Mr cockroach!

The Japanese company, Bandai seems to have developed the love of insects. They’ve produced couple of robotic insect toys. What is shown in the picture is probably the most hated by many people – Mr Cockroach.

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Bandroid robotic musical group lets busy geeks enjoy live band concert just on the work desks

I always carry the same tune – Geeks who always stick in front of their computers simply have no free time to go and watch a live band concert. Now, Hammacher has come out with a trio of pint-sized robots that makes up a mini live band that goes pretty well on your work desk. So, anytime you can hook up your iPod or any music player to this robotic mini live band, blast your tunes, and they can then run their live concert just on your work desk for you.

This group of three, robotic musical group is called Bandroid, which they have a lead guitar player, keyboardist and a drummer. Each can play extremely well for their part of beats. And they’re interconnected that can move in unison with each note, chord, or beat played. The Bandroid group also comes loaded with nine of its own digital loops in the case you can’t find any nice tune to play along.

Buy online, $99.95, Hammacher

via [tEcHnABoB]

Canadian Univerisities to shoot robot to Mars

Robot will soon be ahead of their creator, human, to conquer Mars.  A group of Canadian Universities are working on a robot that will explore Mars for more, to find any possibility of water and life form on Mars. The entire project will cost around $20 million and the universities are making use of corporate funding for this.

The first robotic Mars conquerer is called Northern Light robot, which would be about 77 pounds. The Canadian universities that involved in this project are Universities of Toronto, Waterloo, Winnipeg, Western Ontario, Saskatchewan, Alberta, Calgary, New Brunswick and Simon Fraser. But, the Canadian Space Agency is not involved in this project at this time.

via [tHeRAwFeEd]

Toyota into robotic business? They’re to buy Sony’s robotic division!

Toyota seems to be pretty interested in venturing into robotic business? There was sign to show their interest into this area, as we probably could tell by looking at that they started using Robina Robot as the visitor guide at their exhibition. Now, The Japanese Nikkei Business has reported that Toyota  is buying Sony’s robotic division.  But, the Sony’s robotic division is reported being losing money for quite some time, which Sony’s CEO Howard Stringer has decided to get rid of it! According to a Toyota executive that buying Sony’s division is meant for increasing Toyota’s strength in mechanics.

via [engadget]

Robina Robot as guide for Toyota’s exhibition and signs autograph too

In Japan, robots have been used extensively. We’ve seen dancer, receptionist before and what else? Whether you like it or not or you’ve got a little bit fed up of hearing it, here is one more robot which is to work as a guide, to take care of the Japanese so they will not have lost their direction in those overly busy shopping complexes or exhibition centers.

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Mr MyFountain, a super bar tender but he’s a robot!

Nowadays, our world seems to be getting more robotic stuff to replace human. I now see another profession, the bar tender, is at the losing end to hand it over to the robots. What can we say? It’s robots are simply more precise than their creators and they’ll never get tired of doing the job, which they’re programmed to carry out. Anyway, this post is nothing about the fight between humans and robots for jobs. It’s about another robot, which is a robotic bar tender, called MyFountain.

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What if robots could dance much better than your favorite dancing kings and queens?

In the next few years or sooner, robots are supposed to be the best entertainers to go on stage and dance to keep their masters – we, human, amused. I love this idea. That is what the Japanese is going to bring to us and they’ve started this project creating robots that can dance as good as your favorite dancing stars. The idea behind this research is due to making use of robots as dancers doesn’t need repeated rehearsals that are simply wasting time. The robots can just be programmed to copy all the actions of a human dance teacher and then they can go on stage a few minutes later.

This robot is called HRP-2, which is currently still in research by Shin’ichiro Nakaoka and colleagues at the University of Tokyo. Their accomplishment so far is they managed to make the HRP-2 capable of overcoming difficulties of carrying complex leg movements without losing the stability. And the robot is loaded with software that can copy the moves of a human dance instructor via video motion capture technology.

I start pitying those professional dancers, which they’re likely able to maintain their professions only for a few more years. As when the HRP-2 is materialized and available in the market, the professional dancers will most likely lose their jobs. My advice to them is to start increasing their charge per show, so they could go for earlier retirement or start climbing the ladder to move to the next stage, to be a dance instructor, which you could still train the robots and woudn’t go jobless.

Source, via [sHiNySHiNy]

Super robotic snaky pet – RoboBoa

I personally think that it’s simply no joke to have snakes as your pets, especially the venomous ones. Unless, you surely know how to take care of them, as it’s no fun at all that you get a bite from any of the venomous crawlies. If you simply love snake, then a robotic one wouldn’t be a bad choice.

The RoboBoa is the kind of robotic snake that can work as your virtual pet. Furthermore, it can ensure that you’ll never be late for work as it’s got built-in alarm clock that can wake you up every morning. If your room is simply too dim, just let it sit on your work desk quietly to accompany you, be your shining star for your desktop reading. Where else can you get such an exotic pet that also works as your alarm clock, your desktop reading light and even more with the kind of friendly alien personality?

The RoboBoa is the product of combining advanced A.I animation with lights, motion and sound. It comes with a remote loaded with 41 functions that allows you to quickly choose and change between a large selection of modes, such as aware, explore, partying mode etc. Here is the video of RoboBoa in action.

Buy online, $220, Gadgets.dk

via [uBerGiZmO]

Super Intelligent Robotic Babysitter – The Hello Kitty Robot!

A robotic form of Hello Kitty simply reminds me one of my childhood favorite toon TV shows – the Doraemon. Which is the story about a robotic cat that was sent back to a couple of centuries ago by the great-grandson, to work almost like a babysitter for taking care of the great grandpa. Now, it seems like such a kind of robotic cat has become available in our century. But it is in the form of Hello Kitty instead of Doraemon. Of course, this is mainly due to Hello Kitty is the one that is more popular in recent years. To me, I’m no big fan of Hello Kitty and do not know much about the history and background of this cat.

Anyway, lets not waste time about the story of the Hello Kitty and lets look at the robotic version of it. The robotic Hello Kitty carries a huge price tag of $6,299 and is available for pre-order now. This robotic cat is meant for helping busy parents take care of young children. It features the intelligence of chatting with your child in three personality modes, which are as a close friend, with the family and as a guessing game. Other than that little intelligence, it carries lots of sophisticated features, such as it’s capable of face recognition via a CMOS senor, voice recognition via a mic, equipped with lift-up sensor and AV connector. Her face, whiskers and ribbons are equipped with LED lights, which will change states based upon identity recognition. If you simply have no time for your kids, then you have no choice just to think of digging out the $6K, in order for keeping them from being lonely.

Buy online, Pre-Order, DreamKitty, $6,299

via [GIzMoDo]