When you think of artificial intelligence and robots, perhaps your first thoughts go to the fascinating and slightly unsettling robots from Boston Dynamics. Or maybe your mind wanders to google, with their complex search algorithms and seemingly unlimited amounts of money at their disposal to develop who knows what. If you think like I do, then the next logical step is to ask these same companies to learn more about the future of these technologies.
That’s exactly what I did and what I learned will surprise you. I talked to a senior manager from google under condition of anonymity, because this person is not allowed to speculate publicly.
Google has bought many robotics startups and what many don’t know is that google also purchased Boston Dynamics a few years ago. But with all of these startups purchased, their biggest mistake was that they had no clear goal for a commercial product and no specific product tailored to consumers. While Boston Dynamics makes bleeding edge tech, their robots cost millions of dollars, which means that they cannot be adapted for consumers. They are just too expensive and impractical for everyday applications.
With this in mind, I asked how robots will ever break through to everyday use, if these are the hurdles that google has faced.
After all, if google has been unable to make something with their funding and resources, then what hope does anyone else have?
What this google employee told me is the issue was and continues to be, that there is no central vision and no specific product in mind.
And there is not much that can be done, with an organization as big and subsequently bureaucratic as google. But there is one product out there which does break the mold and is affordable. It just doesn’t look like a humanoid robot and it doesn’t cost an arm and a leg.
One of the companies that google is looking at is Travelmate Robotics, because they have a multi use robot that is affordable and is adaptable to new features. What sets them apart is that they have a unique patented AI movement system.
This system covers all robots that follow you and connect to your smartphone. I can personally see how this makes the company an attractive prospect for investors.It is all the more interesting that they singled out Travelmate Robotics as an example. Likely because they have a product that is ready for consumers and is affordable to boot.
From there, I decided to do my own research on the state of consumer robotics, and I think that google is right on the mark. Travelmate’s future uses include medical applications, golfing uses, shopping carrying and even augmented reality communication. Many more features are being developed, because they allow third parties to develop apps for their robot, much in the same way as the google play store.
It is clear that there is a very realistic possibility of robots being a part of our lives and in a limited sense, they already are. The key is not to look for something from Westworld, Terminator or Blade Runner.
The key is to look at our lives and our routines. From there, we can see how robots fit in. Smartphones were adopted by the masses because they have thousands of uses and its like having a mini touchscreen computer. We need something similar for robots.
A company like Travelmate Robotics is the answer. Will google swallow up this company, like it has countless others? Or will Travelmate expand on their own through raises like this one: https://wefunder.com/travelmate.robotics
For me, it looks like Travelmate is planning to do the latter and will eventually file for an IPO in America. If they do that, then they’re on track to do the same thing that Microsoft did when the filed their IPO. When that happened, the first 12,000 investors and employees became millionaires overnight.
We’ll see what happens, but the future of robots will be interesting regardless.
