Cynthia Breazeal unveiled her latest social robot today, Jibo. This social robot isn’t an appliance, it’s a companion, one that can interact and react with its human owners in ways that delight instead of disturb. Jibo “supports the human experience, but does not try to be human.”
“Social robots are designed to be partners that help you versus tools that you use,” Breazeal said. “So, for instance, you can open up your camera app, but you’ve got to get behind it, and you operate it like a tool. Jibo plays a role for you. It can be a cameraman as opposed to a camera, so now you can actually be in the moment.”