Aside from creating the world’s best long-distance communication tool, we have another main focus here at temi HQ: building a responsible narrative for what it means to be a personal robot in the world today and tomorrow. What does that mean? How are we going about this momentous task? Let’s discuss.
It is no surprise that Hollywood has driven the narrative surrounding what it means to be a personal robot. Seeing the words “personal robot” usually conjures up images of destructive, apocalyptic, and harmful robots that have ruled the silver screen for quite some time now. While it may be enjoyable for some to engage with these science fiction movies, we see this narrative as being wildly problematic. First off, the perpetuation of a harmful intersection between robotics and artificial intelligence is dangerous as it creates a normalized frame of reference for what “personal robotics” look like, sound like, and, most of all, act like. Second, it closes off a large amount of people to a potentially beneficial thing for society. Now, I will say that what the movie industry has done with the narrative of personal robotics is not all bad. I think that something good that has come out of this is that it has opened a dialogue for the ethics surrounding the creation and use of robotics and artificial intelligence. Furthermore, these films and television shows display the terrible possibilities of what could happen if we do not mindfully discuss personal robotics today. So how can we use what we’ve learned from Hollywood to deconstruct this very problematic narrative?
We see the future of personal robotics as one where robots do not replace humans, yet instead assist human beings. This includes assistance with daily activities that take up a great majority of our time at home or the office. We also see a future where personal robots automate technological needs in the home in a way where they allow us to spend more quality time with those around us. Personal robots should also offer humans accessibility assistance to ensure that those who may have difficulty performing some tasks are able to do whatever it is that they desire. Lastly, we see robots assisting humans in the facilitation of communication between two humans at a distance. This is the future that we envision, this is the future we believe in. Now let’s talk about what we are doing today to make this vision a reality.
Everyday we are looking to create a narrative surrounding a future where personal robots make people’s lives easier, more enjoyable, and more interconnected. Championing the creation and promotion of a personal robotics platform opens up the doors for third party developers to utilize temi’s robotic capabilities in order to develop tools for the betterment of people’s livelihood. For example, consider a language education application where a child can walk from room-to-room with their temi asking it “how do you say that in Spanish?” as they point to a clock. Using object recognition capabilities, temi can provide an immersive and experiential learning experience unlike any other. Developers have already built an application for temi where it has connected to health products and through IoT technologies the robot can notify health professionals and family members if a loved one has fallen ill. Across the board, temi offers developers a new dimension to development – movement. We understand it is imperative that we stay extremely mindful about the dialogue that we engage in with our branding. That is why every piece of consumer-facing content, whether it is in written, video, or image form, is checked against our vision of the future.
We are very cognizant of the place that robotics will have in the world of tomorrow, and we are doing our part to responsibly build the narrative for what it means to be a personal robot in the world today. We wholeheartedly believe that temi is a massive step in the right direction for bringing in this future that we care so deeply about.