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Lowe’s to Test OSHbot Shopping Assistant Robots, Later Versions May Integrate 3D Printers
Remember back a decade or two ago, reading a science fiction novel, or even a magazine like Popular Science, which envisioned a time, in the not too distant future, where robots would be everywhere? Robots to walk your dog, robots to clean your house, and even talking robots which can replace customer service representatives within a store. Well, that vision has just gotten quite a bit closer to reality.
Today Lowe’s announced that they will begin testing OSHbot robots in one of their Orchard Supply Hardware stores located in San Jose, California. The testing, which will begin as early as next month, will look at the various responses by customers as these 5-foot-tall mobile talking robots patrol the aisles.
OSHbot
These robots will act as shopping assistants. If a customer can’t find a product, they can simply start a dialogue (in multiple languages) with one of these machines, and it will take them over to that product. To further the utility of these robots, they will also be equipped with sophisticated 3D scanners which can be used in a variety of ways, such as matching a certain screw, nail, or hinge needed by a customer. Additionally, once it is scanned the robots can immediately determine if a needed product is in stock.
The project, a collaboration between Lowe’s and startup Fellow Robots, aims to bring convenience to the shopping experience. Over the last several years, ‘big-box’ stores like Lowe’s have seen stiff competition emerge from such sources as Amazon.com and shoppers’ access to smartphones allowing for quick price comparison which may lead them to purchase their products in lower-priced nearby stores or online.
“Instead of seeming ultra-convenient, the big-box experience starts to look like it has a lot of friction,” Doug Stephens, founder of advisory firm Retail Prophet, told the Wall Street Journal. “If robots are a means of alleviating some of that friction, I’d expect to see a lot more robots.”
Marco Mascorro, CEO of Fellow Robots, left, and Kyle Nel, executive director of Lowe’s Innovation Labs
Future renditions of these robots could get quite a bit more sophisticated, according to the CEO of Fellow Robots, Marco Mascorro. He believes that OSHbot soon may be able to 3D print certain smaller scanned parts via an integrated 3D printer on board.
Imagine walking into a Lowe’s store, beginning a dialogue with a robot, asking if a certain bracket you need is in stock. You then could hand the bracket you need replaced to the robot which will then scan it, determine if the part is in stock, and if not, 3D print that bracket for you. This is where we are headed, whether we like it or not.
“We believed that in the near future — in the next 5 years, 10 years — someone was going to come out with a retail operational robot and that was going to change retail,” said Kyle Nel, executive director of Lowe’s Innovation Lab. “So we figured, why don’t we do it?”
It will be interesting to see how these initial tests go next month. If a success, there is no telling how quickly these machines may make their way into many more Lowe’s owned stores. Let’s hear your thoughts on this interesting move by Lowe’s in the OSHbot forum thread on 3DPB.com. Check out a video showing OSHbot below:
Source: http://3dprint.com/21632/lowes-oshbot-3d-print/
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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”.
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