Life with an automaton

Robots guarantee easy living. However consumers, especially Americans, are sceptical and slow to adapt to their benefits.

Fifty-one years after the first commercial robot went to work, the United States is approaching a tipping point: Within a decade, observers say, the average American household will include one or two simple robots. And though they may not look like the ones imagined in science fiction, these robots — will play pervasive roles in the lives of regular consumers, says Lee Gutkind, author of Almost Human: Making Robots Think.

Especially after the last decade's technological breakthroughs and research, robots are primed to enter the consumer marketplace. "There are still a number of problems to be solved, but we've solved some of the fundamental problems," says Paolo Pirjanian, chief scientist at Evolution Robotics Inc, in Pasadena, California.

But as roboticists prepare to unleash their creations, they are confronted with a hurdle perhaps more daunting than the technical ones: consumer readiness — which includes such factors as scepticism, unrealistic expectations, confusion about what makes a robot and a "Frankenstein complex", or the fear of robots.

Cameras that recognise and auto-focus on human faces, automated telephone operators and adaptive cruise control are some of the robotic technologies on the market that most people don't associate with robots.

So what is a robot? "The classic definition is something that senses its environment, decides what to do, and then acts on that decision," says Todd Jochem, head of Applied Perceptions, a robotics company that specialises in unmanned vehicle software. Something as simple as a vending machine could be called a robot.

"Technology usually intrudes in fairly measured ways, incremental ways," explains Matt Mason, director of robotics at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. Though most people already use and even interact with robots, they probably don't recognise it.

Suspicious customers

While Americans seem to have little problem with their unknowing interactions with robots, dealing with a product that is clearly an automaton exposes some of the mental barriers that may slow the adoption of consumer robots in the US. Take, for example, the Roomba, a simple, disk-shaped vacuuming robot created by iRobot. For the cost of a normal vacuum-cleaner ($120 to $450, depending on the Roomba model), a consumer can buy a robotic floor cleaner that requires zero programming and even knows when to charge itself. Roomba owners simply need to push a button and the robot does the rest.

Yet, after four years on the market, only 1 to 2 per cent of Americans feel comfortable entrusting a robot with vacuuming.

The problem? People often question if the Roomba really works or if it is just some elaborate scam. "There's a mental barrier," says Helen Greiner, chairwoman and co-founder of the iRobot Corporation in Burlington, Massachusetts. "[Roomba] is small, it's about the same cost as a vacuum, so [most people ask] ‘What's the catch here?' I think there's potentially healthy scepticism."

Trusting robots to care for humans in even simple ways is a terrifying idea to many in the US, say roboticists. The vast majority of robot-themed movies follow the pattern of man makes robot, robot becomes smarter than man, robot destroys man. Think Westworld, Terminator and I, Robot.

Beyond making mechanised helpers a normal part of the everyday experience, robotic toys can provide the next generation with realistic expectations of what a robot is and what it can do.

"So far, our perception has been shaped by science-fiction movies. And the public's expectation of what the robots can and should do, far exceeds the technical ability of today's robots," says Sarjoun Skaff, who is the co-founder of robotic toy company Bossa Nova Concepts in Pittsburgh. These perceptions create the type of people who distrust a machine such as the Roomba.

Many roboticists have tried to avoid public suspicion and unrealistic demands by marketing their innovations as "gadgets" and not "robots". "If you are doing a robotics project, you never use the word ‘robot'," says Jochem. Even though his company, Applied Perceptions, deal mostly with robotics, the organisation decided not to include any derivative of the word "robot" in its name. As robotic technologies gradually creep into daily life, Jochem says people will care less about it as a robot and just accept it as a useful tool.

Even if roboticists manage to overcome the public's unease, they will still need to find a way to simplify their applications so the kind of person who struggles to connect a DVD player to their TV could learn to use it with limited instruction.

Car control

As robotic technologies marketed as high-tech gadgets, not robots — quietly make their way into the consumer market, new car owners are among the first users to try them in the form of popular features such as: Adaptive cruise control — perhaps the closest consumer technology available to unmanned vehicles. Adaptive cruise control uses radar sensors to watch for cars ahead of the driver and adjusts the speed to maintain a set following distance.

Automated parallel parking: Cars now offer an automated system that allows drivers to select the parking space on an LCD screen, position the car next to the spot and then let the car take care of the rest.

Collision detection: When the system senses a pending crash, it alerts the driver, tightens seat belts and moves the headrests forward to reduce whiplash.