When it comes to building robot assistants, Thomas Burns at Workshop Nation points out that we have incredible and amazing technology, but it’s lacking in visual personality. Just look at your Alexa or Google home device. They are pretty incredible in terms of technology but they are lacking in aesthetics.
OK, some of you may like the minimal sleek aesthetic of the Alexa devices but for many of us, it is just really lacking in the personality department.
In this video, the guts of an Alexa are retrofitted to a new Alexatron robot that really has much more charisma. Retrofit might be a bit of a simplistic description, as you can see there are animatronic eyes, a face tracking camera, and a CRT display. It took a bit more work than simply plopping the Alexa in a new corporeal form, but you’ll need to go watch the video for all those details.
Just look at those eyes, that bouncy waveform display on the CRT. Just look at that face! I know I’d rather have this robot around.
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