(Describer) Streams of light collide to create a globe filled with water. Title: Science Nation. A robot moves its three-fingered arm toward a bottle on a counter.
(male narrator)
Here's how to take
the drudgery from housework.
Meet Herb,
a robot butler
who doesn't mind
the mundane one bit.
(Describer) It drops the bottle in a bin.
We want Herb to perform
useful tasks at home
with minimum delays.
(narrator)
That's Siddhartha Srinivasa
of Intel Labs, Pittsburgh.
That's where
they cooked up Herb,
which stands for
Home Exploring Robotic Butler.
What do you think, ladies?
(Describer) Elderly women:
There are many chores
a robot might do.
Particularly
for older people.
You get arthritis
in your hands.
It would be
a helpful thing.
I'd like him to do my laundry
and get my mail.
I use a cane.
I could lean on the robot.
The researchers believe
senior citizens and the disabled
will be the early adopters
of these robot butlers.
They most need the help
with the housework.
Let's face it--
don't we all want a robot?
And we want one that is smart
and resourceful.
So with help from the
National Science Foundation,
the researchers
are showing Herb the ropes,
hoping he can operate
on his own.
He moves around on a Segway,
those stand-and-ride scooters.
He has an arm to pick up
objects, a camera to see,
and a spinning laser that maps
a 3D model of his location.
(male)
That screen is Herb's
hallucination of the world.
Herb thinks the world
looks like that.
(narrator)
Teaching a robot
to pick up bottles is hard.
(male)
Hey, it went upside down.
(Describer) It drops a bottle.
(narrator)
Srinivasa is optimistic
that in about ten years
a robot butler will be able to
serve coffee to these ladies.
I'd like him
to go shopping for me.
He can carry all
the packages.
A robot could be
a companion too.
I want him
to be good-looking, handsome.
(female)
Male, female?
Male.
[laughing]
(narrator)
Okay, we hear you--
one silicon stud
who's handy with a dust mop
coming right up.
But by all means, please
don't tell Herb he's homely.
(Describer) A globe turns.
For Science Nation,
I'm Miles O'Brien.
