Has anyone here actually had the "honor" of working with a real Robotic Assistant? For those that have, believe me its nowhere near what some would think its cracked up to be.
Once upon a time in another life, I used to work at a Motorola plant as a Customer Engineer. They had "assigned" us these MAU's "Mobile Assistance Units" to assist us with whatever tasks we were given. All it was, was simply a motorized assortment tray that rolled along by tracking a magnetic strip on the floor, or by following lasers that were aligned along the walls. These things had to be by far the most annoying devices that have ever been created by the hands of man.
They were all programmed to take verbal instructions, but you had to speak very slowly to them, very clearly, and very loudly (sometimes repeatedly) before these things were able to comprehend what you wanted them to do. They moved along at the pace of a snail, and performed with the overall mentality of a retarded four year old.
In the time that was spent sending this thing on a simple errand, I could have made the trip 10 times on foot. But, the company wanted up to utilize these contraptions as much as possible to "get the full effect of the benefits that they offered"
In reality, they were nothing more that a technological showpiece. Somthing that the company wasted millions of dollars on that only slowed down production and took away jobs.
I often thought, If these things are the future of the american workforce, I truly weep for our children!
