Home robots: New robots aid social connection — or spying — from afar

BOSTON — Long dominated by home-cleaning gadgets, the consumer robotics market is expanding with the arrival of 'bots that can spy inside your home when you're away or arrange virtual meetings of family or friends.

Robotics experts say gadgets introduced this past week could usher more socially oriented robots into the U.S. market. The new models bear little physical resemblance to humans or pets — unlike cuddlier robots embraced by consumers in Japan and South Korea. But they're intended to help distance-separated people connect, rather than perform a tedious task like vacuuming a floor.

"As these kinds of devices mature in the years ahead, I expect them to gradually become more sophisticated in terms of providing gestures, object interaction such as picking things up, and eventually moving toward a more human shape," said James Kuffner, an assistant professor at Carnegie Mellon University's Robotics Institute.

A new device by iRobot Corp. resembles the company's disc-shaped Roomba vacuum cleaner but with a webcam bulging from the top.

It's designed to enable a parent on a business trip to feel almost as if they're at home. For example, a parent could remotely send the wheeled robot into the kids' bedroom, where the children could flip open a book in front of the robot's camera, microphone and speakers. The parent can then scan the words and read a bedtime story aloud while watching the kids' reactions.

While a remote control can direct the robot from within the home, it can also be controlled remotely, using a Web connection to access a home wireless network. The user could then operate the robot with either a joystick or a computer installed with iRobot-supplied software.

Participants can hear over two-way audio speakers. Digital video streams in color one-way — meaning a traveling parent could see the kids but not vice versa. Up to 10 parties can have PIN-number access to the gadget, allowing distant relatives or friends to remotely keep in touch as well as immediate family.

For now, iRobot is offering limited quantities — it won't say how many — under a pilot program. For $199, select participants can take the device home, test it out and offer feedback. The company, based in Burlington, Mass., says ConnectR will become broadly available early next year for less than $500.

Another product introduced Thursday at the DigitalLife technology conference in New York was developed by France-based Meccano and marketed in the U.S. by Erector, best known for its Erector Set kits. The gadget — Spykee the WiFi spy robot — bears little resemblance to the new iRobot product.