If you happen to have a look at your Roomba with disgust, enthusiastic about what a far cry it’s from the Jetsons’ Rosey the Robotic, assistance is on the way in which. Bloomberg reported on Friday that Meta plans to leverage its advances in AI and augmented actuality to construct a platform for futuristic humanoid robots that may assist with family chores like folding laundry.
Meta is reportedly creating a brand new staff inside its Reality Labs hardware division, which handles Quest VR headsets and the long-term Orion AR glasses project. Though it is going to construct robotic {hardware} throughout improvement, Meta’s long-term objective is extra like Android, the place Google makes the software program platform that nearly all the trade (outdoors of Apple) makes use of. Meta would make the underlying sensors, AI and software program for different corporations to place inside their {hardware}. In different phrases, it needs to be the Android of androids.
At the least initially, Meta plans to make family chores the challenge’s central focus. Bloomberg lists folding laundry, carrying glasses of water, placing dinnerware within the dishwasher and different dwelling chores as examples to construct pleasure round what may very well be an unsettling product class for many individuals. (For examples of why these considerations could also be warranted, look no additional than the Unitree G1 robotic that ran full-speed at Engadget’s Karissa Bell at CES, momentarily pinning her towards the onlooking crowd.)
Talking of Unitree, Meta has reportedly held early discussions with the Chinese language robotics firm, which additionally makes a quadruped “robotic canine” that may run round, climb stairs and sit on its hind legs like woman. Meta can also be mentioned to have mentioned its plans with California-based humanoid robotic maker Determine AI, which may count OpenAI, Nvidia, Microsoft, Intel and Jeff Bezos amongst its buyers.
At this time’s humanoid robots aren’t superior sufficient to pitch in round the home like Rosey, however Meta believes all of the sources it’s sinking into AI and XR are paving a street to that vacation spot. Though the corporate thinks will probably be a couple of years earlier than helpful humanoid robots are broadly accessible, Meta Chief Know-how Officer Andrew Bosworth reportedly views the corporate’s progress in hand monitoring, low-bandwidth computing and always-on sensors as benefits.
“The core applied sciences we’ve already invested in and constructed throughout Actuality Labs and AI are complementary to growing the developments wanted for robotics,” Bosworth reportedly wrote in a memo. “We consider that increasing our portfolio to take a position on this area will solely accrue worth to Meta AI and our blended and augmented actuality packages.”
Meta isn’t alone in elevating its eyebrows on the prospect of dwelling robots for (possible wealthy) customers. Final yr, information broke that Apple was working on robotics. Ditto for Google. Each corporations have published analysis papers on their robotics work. Flying cars might have to attend, however Rosey is trying so much much less like a pipe dream.
This text initially appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/meta-is-reportedly-working-on-humanoid-robots-that-help-with-chores-192453416.html?src=rss
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