The Jibo is essentially a smartphone in robot form

A famed roboticist at MIT’s Media Lab and a pioneer of social robotics by the name of Cynthia Breazeal has unveiled her latest creation. Whereas her previous robots were designed for research purposes and used in places such as classrooms or hospitals, her newest robotic device is designed for the average person to be used in their home. Called Jibo, Breazeal hopes that the robot will become “part of the family”.

She claims that Jibo is designed as both an interactive companion and a family helper. Jibo is capable of engaging people in ways that other devices, such as a smartphone or a computer, simply cannot do. The reason for this, Breazeal claims, is that rather than relying powerful processors or better sensors, Jibo uses emotion. Jibo separates itself from other gadgets by treating people like human being. “Emotion is the next wave of this humanized high-touch engagement with technology,” Breazeal asserts.

Jibo will come equipped with an intial set of “skills” that will allow it to play different “roles”, as Breazeal calls them. For example, Jibo will be able to tell stories using sound effects, graphics, and movement, “bringing content to life and engaging kids in a playful way.” The robot will also be able to act as a cameraman, tracking faces and snapping pictures so you can be in the photos. It could also act as an assistant who reminds family members of their schedules, or as a telepresence avatar that helps people connect with each other.

“Robots are about the autonomy and the partnership and playing the role versus being a tool that I got to pick up and poke at,” Breazeal explains. “So it’s not just what it does, it’s how it does it. And the new use cases that that enables.” Breazeal knows that her startup, also called Jibo, can’t explore all of the robot’s possibilities by itself. This is why Jibo (the company) is opening Jibo (the robot) up for developers to create, and more importantly, sell applications that will give the robot new functionalities. Read more about the story here.

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