January 03, 2016

What I want in a robotic personal assistant

This product may exist in some form. If it's not and someone wants to make it, go ahead because I'm not in this space. It's a blend of Amazon Echo, Google Now, Kubi and some other things that may or may not even be possible. Anyway, read on for what I think would be a great addition to a home office, living room or office situation.

Form Factor

This device should be relatively thin and short, just enough size to accommodate a 7 inch touch screen in portrait mode. It should be friendly to look at and always powered up. I envision two "eyes" that are actually cameras for video chatting. The touchscreen should be located below the eyes with graphics to make it appear to smile on screen in the least creepy way possible. The screen would always be on so it could be programmed to show a clock, the weather or pictures of your dog. Or a smile.

Features
  • Dual cameras
  • 7 inch stereoscopic touch screen
  • Speaker
  • Microphone
  • Speech recognition software
  • Rotating head
Uses

  • Video Chatting. I see a proprietary piece of software that enhances the experience between two of these units. If the screen can be stereoscopic and the two cameras can create a non-glasses 3d effect I think it would be cool. I imagine the unit would be able to run other 3rd party video chat software as well, just not in 3d.
  • Answering questions - ask it something and it shall answer. What would be best is that you can program it with your own keyword (or multiple people could have separate keywords to wake it up). I dislike saying "OK Google" to my phone. I would rather be snarky and say "YO Phone" or something.
  • Email/messaging - the unit could have an onscreen keypad to answer emails or you simply talk to it and it transcribes. The unit would alert you to any incoming notifications, just like a phone does.
  • Bring up weather notifications with a radar map
  • Bring up traffic notifications with a traffic map
  • Play any of your streaming music services just by asking it. Once it learns your favorite music, you can ask it to play your favorites.
  • Security camera - with the rotating head the user can pan around the room
  • Play videos from streaming services. Nexflix, YouTube, etc.
  • If it sat in the kitchen it could be used for recipes and grocery list creation
  • Timers for various uses (naps at the office, etc).

I think the form factor is key. It needs to be friendly, not "Pringles can" looking. Maybe someone has something like it at CES this year.

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