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by modeless 3598 days ago
The next really big thing will be consumer robotics, powered by advances in AI. It's still a ways off. Self-driving cars may be the first big application area. After that we'll see home robots to do cleaning, cooking, and maintenance.

Contrary to popular opinion, IoT is a dead end. The future isn't a million devices scattered around your home, but one capable robot that can be your servant and do everything for you.
2 comments
digi_owl 3598 days ago
Yeah, but that may well be further off than the likes of Boston Dynamics make it appear.

Just grabbing something from the fridge and putting it on a plate is a massive task for robotics.

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narrowrail 3598 days ago
You people need to stop saying this kind of stuff. I will bet you $1k on longbets.org that we do not have fully autonomous vehicles operating on public streets in 9 years (i.e. 2025). These types of statements are confusing the non-technical 'tech press' and they are misinforming the public.
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ufmace 3598 days ago
The way you worded it, I'd say we have that already: See Google's relatively public self-driving car project, already logging lots of fully autonomous miles on public streets https://youtu.be/bDOnn0-4Nq8

I do think it'll be more like 50 years to get self-driving cars being sold to the general public that can drive autonomously anywhere though.

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narrowrail 3598 days ago
"fully autonomous" requires no human intervention method, IMO. Google's cars have steering wheels. The gist of what I am trying to communicate is that serious disruption to the status quo will not happen from autonomous cars in my lifetime (one can quibble with specifics and lawyer the discussion at will).
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ufmace 3598 days ago
Well they have already designed a special self-driving car model from the ground up that has no provision for a steering wheel at all.
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narrowrail 3598 days ago
Did they design it or are they operating this thing? I designed a time-travel machine, do you want a ride?
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ufmace 3598 days ago
Here's a youtube video of people being driven around in it https://youtu.be/CqSDWoAhvLU

Here's another youtube of it driving around on city streets https://youtu.be/_qE5VzuYFPU

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