ARE YOU READY FOR A ROBOT IN THE HOUSE?

AS CHANNEL 4’S HIT SERIES Humans ABOUT A ROBOT THAT LOOKS LIKE A PERSON (BOTTOM RIGHT) RETURNS TO THE SCREEN, GADGET EXPERT HOLLY BROCKWELL LOOKS AT THE REALITY OF DOMESTIC ROBOTS

HIGH-TECH DOMESTIC GADGETS

IS THERE A MORE APPEALING IDEA THAN A ROBOT CLEANER TO DO ALL YOUR HOUSEWORK? A WILLING HELPER WHO DOESN’T FLINCH AT TACKLING THE OVEN OR SCRUBBING THE LOO? WE’RE NOT THERE YET, BUT THE GOOD NEWS IS THAT HOUSEWORK ROBOTS DO EXIST, AND SOME OF THEM ARE AVAILABLE RIGHT NOW.

Your robot army

THERE MIGHT NOT BE ONE BIG ROBOT THAT DOES EVERYTHING (YET), BUT THERE ARE LOTS OF ROBOTS THAT DO ONE THING REALLY WELL. THE MOST FAMOUS IS PROBABLY IROBOT’S ROOMBA, LAUNCHED IN 2002, A ROBOT VACUUM CLEANER THAT DRIVES AROUND

YOUR FLOOR, DODGING THE FURNITURE, BEFORE PUTTING ITSELF NEATLY AWAY. THE SUCCESS OF ROOMBA HAS LED TO AN INFLUX OF COMPETING ROBOT VACS – EVEN DYSON’S MADE ONE – WHICH WILL SOON BE JOINED BY MACHINES FROM THE US AND CHINA THAT CAN CLEAN ANYTHING FROM STREAKY WINDOWS TO CRUSTY BARBECUES.

IT’S EASY TO SEE THE BENEFITS OF ROBOT HELPERS. AS IROBOT CO-FOUNDER HELEN GREINER PUTS IT, “THEY DO THE JOB SO

YOU DON’T HAVE TO. YOU JUST PRESS ONE BUTTON OR PUT IT ON AN AUTOMATIC SCHEDULE.” AND UNSURPRISINGLY, IT LOOKS LIKE THEY’RE HERE TO STAY: “THE FUTURE OF DOMESTIC ROBOTS FOR THE NEXT TEN YEARS IS SINGLE-PURPOSE DEVICES LIKE MOPS AND MOWERS. THEY WILL ALL GET MORE INTELLIGENT, LEARNING TO WORK TOGETHER. FOR EXAMPLE, SWEEPING BEFORE MOPPING. IT’S AN EXCITING FUTURE AHEAD.”

IT’S NOT ALL ABOUT CLEANING, THOUGH. IN FACT, IT LOOKS LIKE THE FUTURE IS ROBOTS DOING ALL THE HARD WORK. EXCELLENT.

What else can robots do?

POUR YOU A DRINK ON SOME OF ROYAL CARIBBEAN’S CRUISE SHIPS, ROBOT BARTENDERS SHAPED LIKE LARGE MECHANICAL ARMS POUR, MIX AND SHAKE COCKTAILS TO ORDER. THE BIONIC BAR IS IMPRESSIVELY EFFICIENT FOR ONLY HAVING TWO “STAFF”, AND SINCE YOU ORDER ON AN IPAD, YOU DON’T HAVE TO SHOUT ABOVE THE NOISE.

PRINT YOU A SNACK STILL AT PROTOTYPE STAGE IS XYZPRINTING’S AMAZING FOOD PRINTER, WHICH CREATES 3D SNACKS LAYER-BY-LAYER, USING INGREDIENTS LIKE ICING AND COOKIE DOUGH. I TASTED A PANDA-SHAPED COOKIE AND IT WAS DELICIOUS.

DRIVE YOU TO WORK ENGINEERS AROUND THE WORLD ARE RACING TO BUILD AFFORDABLE AND SAFE SELF-DRIVING CARS, BUT WE’RE NOT THERE YET. GOOGLE’S VERSION IS ON TEST IN THE US AND THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD BUILT ONE THAT CAN BE CONTROLLED BY IPAD BUT SO FAR THE ONLY COMMERCIAL MODELS REQUIRE SOME DRIVER CONTROL. TESLA’S MODEL S, DUE IN 2017, SHOULD START AT AROUND £27,000.