Hi Gabriela!
I see potential in robots for designers, and the geek factor can be nice.
There is definitely a need for easier programming though I would also like to have the option to have full access to the code so there would have to be a layered interface architecture. As a designer with a background in interactive products I already have experience with building and programming robots - robotic lamps, BEAM robots and uC based robots programmed with Arduino+Processing, C++, analog circuits or Max/MSP.
I also experienced robots with speech and emotional expression, like QRIO, eMuu and iCat, as this was an active research topic in our faculty.
I would want to, besides accessing hard code and an app, be able to program the robot through movement - either teaching behavior by having it mimic my own body or by moving its extremities and, like a MIDI sequencer, compose its behavior. Also its body should be modular so I could easily build different morphologies.
If I would use a robot would depend on its price and functionality. Some of my ideas:
- a robotic desk light with integrated web cam so it can track and follow my hands. This would be nice for creating videos of me working on sketches / tinkering to send to clients for either presentation or work logging.
- a robotic pet or walking art piece. I would appreciate if it could teach itself behavior targeted towards a goal as well such as seeking out the lightest areas in the home to charge batteries, developing its own intelligent behavior Karl Sims style.
- A robot/virtual assistant that handles the scanning and documenting of my sketches and notes, automatically adjusting contrast, recognizing my hand writing etc. and a piece of software to store and catalog all my sketches.
- A robot that I put on the coffee table to translate to me when people are speaking different languages or even just pick up words and output them on a simple display so I can follow something. It would be a nice feature if it could also store a to-do list and randomly ask whether or not you already did certain tasks, another feature could be that it stimulates creativity by randomly uttering sentences like ‘what if you would combine a solar panel (x) and a piggy bank (y)?’
- A robot in the car that dispenses mints/sweets/drinks and does tasks like holding your parking tickets.