WIRED NextFest 2008 Exhibits
Exhibits by Category:
GuiaBot
MobileRobots
Like the automated butlers in Woody Allen’s classic film Sleeper — only without the black suits and the tinfoil hats — GuiaBot greets you at the door and takes you into the party (or the meeting, or whatever). Video cameras give the prototype bot’s operator a window onto its world, though it functions autonomously. Its laser rangefinders help it see low objects (like legs and things on the floor), and its library of interactions prepares it for every sort of encounter. Tell it to stay away from something, and it always will, because GuiaBot creates a working map of the space around it. An operator then accesses that map via laptop to set boundaries and establish rules. That way, you never have to worry that it’ll bogart the Orgasmatron.