JIBO, The Worlds’s First Social Robot for the Home

And I want one!

Much to several friends dismay I think this is a fabulous device. I’m not going to get into the whole privacy issue here (Although I do have to say it’s all about security not privacy) mainly because all to often it distracts from recognising invention. A significant number of the population in the world ‘search’ using the internet. Smart phones mean we can not only search on the go, but we can use voice to do so. Jibo is a logical progression in this space, as is Amazon’s Echo amongst others. The promotional film places the device in our social world, beyond search. It does assumes if not rely on us placing our lives in the digital world. The simple calendar, once a grid of dates scrawled with notes and stuck to the fridge must now be integral to our every day activities. I don’t make a note of the fact I need milk, but with the ‘smart home’ and the ‘internet of things’ racing into futures an automated communication device is a logical addition to the myriad of digital hardware we already rely on. Jibo, like many digital assistance, seems to presume we need to reminded of every detail, regularly. This speaks to our digital ontology. What do we ‘need’ to remember now everything is stored in the cloud? That’s a debate for another post. In the mean time I for one will be ordering one, once I’ve updated my calendar of course.