Topic Assignment: Artificial Creatures
Homeostasis
In this lecture we were learning how to apply Homeostasis model to devices. Below I will explain what kind of needs does a bike have, and how its needs are influenced by internal and external stimuli.
This is Lotte. Lotte is a Dutch bike and lives in Amsterdam. She is brand new and has been on the road for less than a month.
Her primary needs are :
1. Getting her human from one place to another
2. Keeping safe from cars and tourists
3. Explore new places
Her primary function is to move and transport her human.
External stimuli that influences Lotte internal state:
1. Accelerating Lotte is made to go fast, her human can press the pedals to make her go faster- thats her need , to get her human from a to z as fast as possible. This makes her feel invincible and free! She feels like a F1 car on two wheels. The faster she goes, the more beautiful places she can explore and since her lifespan is short she wants to make the most of it.
2. Breaking Living in Amsterdam however means that Lotte cant reach her full potential. There are tourists, cars and other bikes on every corner. She wants to stay safe and not have an accident, because of that she needs to break often at the right moment in time. If she fails to do so, her and her human cant get to the desired place or worse they both will end up under a tram !
3. Being stolen Lotte is very pretty but that means she also gets a lot of unwanted attention from thieves. Luckily she has a lock and a double chain to keep her safe. However, Lotte understands that her role in this world is to get people to places, and she wants to see them too ! She gets that this is part of her life.
Research
Online I was able to find other interesting artificial creatures that interact with humans. Below are my favourite ideas:
Jibo
Link: https://jibo.com/ Made by: Jibo in Boston,MA by professor at MIT
Description: Jibo is a first social robot for home. It's like Alexa but much more ! Jibo is an assistant and can give messages to family members. It can take photos by following users movements. It can even tell stories.
What I think about this product: I think during pandemic this product would come in handy for many people who had to be home on their own with little to no interaction with others. I like that unlike Alexa, Jibo can tell stories , take photos, move around and is an AI. I find it very impressive that Jibo can move in different ways very smoothly and mimics human behavior. It feels more like a family member than just a family assistant.
Miko
Link: https://store.miko.ai/ Made by: Sneh Vaswani, India
Description: Miko is an advanced consumer robotics innovation lab passionate about bringing the best of technology to young learners everywhere. Miko is a friend, educator and an entertainer.
What I think about this product: As a person who didn't grow up with smartphones or iPads, I find it scary sometimes how much of digital content children these days consume. However, looking at how my baby sister used digital content when she was little I saw that there are many products that promote learning and exploration (think interactive Dora the explorer). I like this project because it focuses on children and their development rather than just dumbing them down with silly cartoons. I was very surprised to see how cheap it is ($279) in comparison to Jibo which went for $750, its accessible to most consumers and has a lot of features to teach children. What I also like about it is that the company put a lot of effort into using psychologists, teachers and behavior socialists to help create this product.
