[jansan]

I do not understand the purpose of this. Can't the patients simply make a video call with their smartphones?

I mean, if spot had a small barrel with brandy around his neck, just like the St. Bernhard dogs allegedly did, now that would be something...

[ragebol]

Something simpler can work just as well or much easier and this holds for many many problems or tasks. To do dishes, we do not have robot arms holding a brush but dishwashers. Think of a Roomba vs. robot with a sweeper etc. Instead of a robot stocking shelves in a super market, just have home delivery and cut out the shelves entirely. Cooking robots vs. microwave meals.

The issue with all of the above is that each of those can only do 1 task (and do it well). Humans can do multiple things well while reusing the same bits for multiple tasks. A mopping and a vacuum robot are very much alike and share a huge portion of the software and hardware. <strike>Robots</strike> Tools like a Roomba need to be cheap enough to warrant their cost for a task you only need a X times a week/day/moth/year. So, a Roomba is has to be cheap enough. Spot (and other robots) are more expensive but also more versatile and should be capable of doing more tasks.

But, finally, robots bringing beer, yes, the holy grail of robotics!

[tomcooks]

From the github repo[0]: - Telepresence and telemedicine - Remote vital inspection - Disinfecting hospital rooms - Internal delivery

[0] https://github.com/boston-dynamics/bosdyn-hospital-bot