/ News
Sir James Dyson reveals his firm are entering the race to build an affordable robot that can do chores around the home
British inventor Sir James Dyson has revealed he is working on an affordable robot to carry out chores around the house.
The entrepreneur said this week he will announce a £5 million investment in a new robotics laboratory at Imperial College London to develop the technology.
Sir James said soon a 'new generation of robot that understands the world around them will be able to clean the house, put out the bins and even keep an eye out for intruders'.
Sir James claims his firm currently competing with Japanese rivals to become the first to create an advanced generation of household robots.
Twendy-One, a humanoid robot that can help with housework and nursing care, has already been unveiled by Waseda University in Tokyo and will be on sale within a few years.
It has also been speculated that Google is building an android army after recently acquiring a number of robotic and artificial intelligence companies.
Sir James told MailOnline: 'Domestic use will be the initial focus of the research. What robots need to function in the home is vision and the ability to interact intelligently.'
Last year, Dyson launched a £150million facility full of robots - but Sir James admits they are inefficient: 'They perform precise, highly controlled movements in an environment that doesn’t change.
'In a complex environment – the home or garden – a machine must understand and perceive its environment. Such technology would have wide ranging application. This is a starting point, and we will have to see where it leads - and that is what's exciting.'
Sir James Dyson unveils his invention, the Airblade Tap hand drier, in Hamburg, Germany
Twendy-One, a humanoid robot that can help with housework and nursing care, has already been unveiled by Waseda University in Tokyo
A £5 million investment will be made in a new robotics laboratory at Imperial College London. Pictured here is ICL's main entrance to its Kensington campus
The £5million investment is crucial for the UK to catch up with markets in the US and Japan, where robots are already a growing commodity, Sir James claims.
He told MailOnline: 'The US and Japan are leading the charge. Always the early adopters, they aren't afraid of taking risks when it comes to new technology.
'They have seen the unprecedented potential in robotics and are actively investing in research and development.
'That doesn't mean to say we don't have the capability here in the UK. We have some of the World's leading Universities, brimming with brilliant minds. And our digital motors are some of the smallest, most efficient motors in the world – they spin at over 110,000rpm.
'All it takes is time and funding. Combining these developments will lead to previously unthinkable technologies.'
He adds that the project is also aimed at rebooting Britain's dwindling engineering industry, a major stumbling block to the advance of robotics.
'We should be encouraging UK companies to invest in R&D and take on engineers so that they can grow and compete with the World's leading technology companies. Making the UK matter.
'Research and development is a slow burn. And time costs. Long-term thinking is essential to new technology.'
The move has sparked fears among critics who warn artificial intelligence is a slippery slope. But Sir James claims we have already crossed the threshold.
He told MailOnline: 'We already have robots all around us. And, if we are to compete with the likes of the US and Japan we have to take risks, explore the unexplored.
'The UK has a rich history of being the forerunner in new technology and we should endeavour to continue this trend.
'An important strand to what we are doing is working closely with British academia to apply research – to make sure British industry can turn ideas into tangible technologies.
'As long as Universities, the students in them, and industry continues to benefit and to progress then there is nothing to be fearful of.'
Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2555133/Sir-James-Dyson-reveals-firm-entering-race-build-affordable-robot-chores-home.html
/ About us
Founded by Russian entrepreneur Dmitry Itskov in February 2011 with the participation of leading Russian specialists in the field of neural interfaces, robotics, artificial organs and systems.
The main goals of the 2045 Initiative: the creation and realization of a new strategy for the development of humanity which meets global civilization challenges; the creation of optimale conditions promoting the spiritual enlightenment of humanity; and the realization of a new futuristic reality based on 5 principles: high spirituality, high culture, high ethics, high science and high technologies.
The main science mega-project of the 2045 Initiative aims to create technologies enabling the transfer of a individual’s personality to a more advanced non-biological carrier, and extending life, including to the point of immortality. We devote particular attention to enabling the fullest possible dialogue between the world’s major spiritual traditions, science and society.
A large-scale transformation of humanity, comparable to some of the major spiritual and sci-tech revolutions in history, will require a new strategy. We believe this to be necessary to overcome existing crises, which threaten our planetary habitat and the continued existence of humanity as a species. With the 2045 Initiative, we hope to realize a new strategy for humanity's development, and in so doing, create a more productive, fulfilling, and satisfying future.
The "2045" team is working towards creating an international research center where leading scientists will be engaged in research and development in the fields of anthropomorphic robotics, living systems modeling and brain and consciousness modeling with the goal of transferring one’s individual consciousness to an artificial carrier and achieving cybernetic immortality.
An annual congress "The Global Future 2045" is organized by the Initiative to give platform for discussing mankind's evolutionary strategy based on technologies of cybernetic immortality as well as the possible impact of such technologies on global society, politics and economies of the future.
Future prospects of "2045" Initiative for society
2015-2020
The emergence and widespread use of affordable android "avatars" controlled by a "brain-computer" interface. Coupled with related technologies “avatars’ will give people a number of new features: ability to work in dangerous environments, perform rescue operations, travel in extreme situations etc.
Avatar components will be used in medicine for the rehabilitation of fully or partially disabled patients giving them prosthetic limbs or recover lost senses.
2020-2025
Creation of an autonomous life-support system for the human brain linked to a robot, ‘avatar’, will save people whose body is completely worn out or irreversibly damaged. Any patient with an intact brain will be able to return to a fully functioning bodily life. Such technologies will greatly enlarge the possibility of hybrid bio-electronic devices, thus creating a new IT revolution and will make all kinds of superimpositions of electronic and biological systems possible.
2030-2035
Creation of a computer model of the brain and human consciousness with the subsequent development of means to transfer individual consciousness onto an artificial carrier. This development will profoundly change the world, it will not only give everyone the possibility of cybernetic immortality but will also create a friendly artificial intelligence, expand human capabilities and provide opportunities for ordinary people to restore or modify their own brain multiple times. The final result at this stage can be a real revolution in the understanding of human nature that will completely change the human and technical prospects for humanity.
2045
This is the time when substance-independent minds will receive new bodies with capacities far exceeding those of ordinary humans. A new era for humanity will arrive! Changes will occur in all spheres of human activity – energy generation, transportation, politics, medicine, psychology, sciences, and so on.
Today it is hard to imagine a future when bodies consisting of nanorobots will become affordable and capable of taking any form. It is also hard to imagine body holograms featuring controlled matter. One thing is clear however: humanity, for the first time in its history, will make a fully managed evolutionary transition and eventually become a new species. Moreover, prerequisites for a large-scale expansion into outer space will be created as well.
Key elements of the project in the future
• International social movement
• social network immortal.me
• charitable foundation "Global Future 2045" (Foundation 2045)
• scientific research centre "Immortality"
• business incubator
• University of "Immortality"
• annual award for contribution to the realization of the project of "Immortality”.
/ Follow us at:
/ Contact:
For additional information, partnerships and sponsorship, contact:
info@2045.com
Media requesting information and interviews, contact PR@2045.com
LinkedIn
LiveJournal
Google
Twitter
Facebook
Я.ру
ВКонтакте
Mail.ru