Robotic Companions for Smart Space Interactions

Abstract

In the possible world of robotic companions, robots are adopted as butlers in our homes, as baby watchers, as friends and in general as life companions. But robots haven't gained majored acceptance. They're not in every home or even in a tiny fraction of homes. However, bold new research is taking shape with early commercial products already hitting the market place. Robots could soon be the "chief appliance" in your home, or the "new interface technology" for smart spaces. This piece reports on the emerging social robots technology and their use as interfaces to smart spaces such as smart homes. A case study on the usability of such robots, conducted in the Ubiquitous Home, in NICT, Japan, is briefly presented.