EI-E: Now robots hope to put dogs out of work too

Nothing fulfills the need for companionship like the cold hard steel of a robot. The gentle whooshing of gears and servos floats misty lavender doughnuts of joy into the hearts of even the most severely disabled farmers. So we're stoked to see that researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have taken the best attributes of our canine helpers and applied them to the EI-E helper robot. Like a service dog trained to grab hold of a towel to manipulate doors and drawers, the domestic robot can navigate the complexities of your home decor and respond to laser pointed or voice-commands such as push, pull, and a variety of hot tugging actions. Drape that thing in a plush, doughboy suit and we'll be singing Ee i Ee i Oh! all the way home.

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[gad get @ Oct 23rd 2008 4:04AM]

Painfully slow. Even sped up 6x.

[John @ Oct 23rd 2008 4:55AM]

Which do you think would be better: automating your entire life with robots that do everything for you, or just being a robot? I'm on the fence.

[gad get @ Oct 23rd 2008 5:05AM]

If you were a robot, you could be programmed to be constantly ecstatic.

[absinthe party @ Oct 23rd 2008 7:23AM]

Also, if you were a robot, you could just destroy the fence.

[Lord Norr @ Oct 23rd 2008 5:25AM]

"tug it down"
"pull it off"
"tickle the perineum".

The future is finally here people!

[Deeznuts420 @ Oct 23rd 2008 8:22AM]

THEYRE STEALING OUR JERBBBBBBBS

[StalematE @ Oct 23rd 2008 11:28AM]

DERKER-DDERRRRRRR!!!

[Kris @ Oct 23rd 2008 9:04AM]

That title is hilarious

[Sisyphus @ Oct 23rd 2008 10:36AM]

"Nothing fulfills the need for companionship like the cold hard steel of a robot."

Just put a plant on its head and you're gtg.

[kaeljae @ Oct 23rd 2008 11:40AM]

It's great to see tech for helping generally ignored populations (i.e. elderly & disabled). But frankly, very little of this seems like stuff that could or would replace a work dog at this point. Hopefully that will come with time.

[John @ Oct 23rd 2008 11:46AM]

Stupid Robot - it doesn't know that it shouldn't enter a room if a sock is on the door knob.

[Ali @ Oct 23rd 2008 12:49PM]

Yay Georgia Tech :)

[TIMMAH! @ Oct 24th 2008 1:50AM]

Robot walking in on it's roommate... (awkward moment ensues...)

[Tynen @ Oct 29th 2008 6:46PM]

NOT going to forward this article to my girlfriend who trains service dogs.