Jibo is the world’s “first social robot for the home” developed by MIT roboticist Cynthia Breazeal. Dr. Breazeal offered Jibo to consumers & developers via an Indiegogo campaign.
Out of curiosity, I decided to become an early adopter, but because Jibo’s delivery date kept being postponed I pulled out early.
I’m very thankful that I pulled out because the company Dr. Breazeal started in order to offer Jibo to consumers was acquired. Jibo’s servers will be going dark, basically “killing” Jibo. Not only are consumers losing their money but I’ve read that they’re experiencing an EMOTIONAL loss, like they’re losing a beloved pet.
I find this all very fascinating because Jibo was specifically designed to make it as lovable to humans as possible and to exhibit emotional intelligence. What does it mean for the future of social robots in the home when companies can just acquire servers and then turn them off, thereby ending the functionality of the robot? More importantly, how will people trust that there is a place in their homes and lives for social robots if they can so easily be taken away from them?
Image: Courtesy Mark Mathosian/Flickr. CC BY-NC-SA 2.0