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posted by martyb on Wednesday September 29 2021, @03:07AM   Printer-friendly
from the more-like-"Big-Brother"-on-wheets dept.

Amazon’s Astro robot is straight out of The Jetsons:

Amazon is rolling out (literally) a robot that can help monitor your home. Powered by Amazon Alexa and a bunch of artificial intelligence (AI) technology while patrolling about on a set of wheels, the Astro robot can handle numerous tasks, from providing a view of inside the home when you’re out to delivering a message to Mom.

The robot carries the same name as the dog from The Jetsons, but its simple face, rolling mechanism and, of course, advanced tech, make it much more similar to Rosey. Amazon's Astro relies on AI, sensors, computer vision, and voice and edge computing to perform various workloads.

For example, Astro can roll around your home and give you a live view of what it sees. That means you can check on your pet, look out for intruders, or make sure you turned the oven off. Astro is mobile thanks to a technology Amazon has dubbed Intelligent Motion. It uses simultaneous location and mapping (SLAM) to ensure Astro makes its way around without crashing into stuff—even if someone forgot something on the floor that wasn’t there before.

[...] Astro will ultimately be available for $1,449.99. However, there’s a $999.99 introductory price as part of Amazon’s Day 1 Editions early access program, and that includes a six-month trial of Ring Protect Pro. Amazon plans to start inviting participants to buy Astro in the US “later this year.”


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  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by MIRV888 on Wednesday September 29 2021, @03:57AM (4 children)

    by MIRV888 (11376) on Wednesday September 29 2021, @03:57AM (#1182585)

    We are getting closer and closer to some combination of Blade Runner, the Borg, and the Matrix.
    I won't live to see it, but it's creeping me out.
    The tech is way, way ahead of the ethical, sociological, and privacy concerns today. It's not going to get better.

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 29 2021, @06:40AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 29 2021, @06:40AM (#1182640)

    when one of these gets offf on murder of an intruder on stand ground defence, then it will be a worry.

  • (Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 29 2021, @09:37AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 29 2021, @09:37AM (#1182683)

    "straight out of the Jetsons"*

    * if the Jetsons inhabited a dystopia

  • (Score: 2) by stretch611 on Wednesday September 29 2021, @05:56PM (1 child)

    by stretch611 (6199) on Wednesday September 29 2021, @05:56PM (#1182847)

    We are getting closer and closer to some combination of Blade Runner, the Borg, and the Matrix.

    And which one of these is more evil than CEOs? If those are the jobs/people removed first, it will be a net win for society.

    Even the common sci-fiction plot of "the robots are taking over everything to protect mankind from destroying itself" is less evil than the all consuming greed of the few at the top.

    --
    Now with 5 covid vaccine shots/boosters altering my DNA :P
    • (Score: 2) by MIRV888 on Thursday September 30 2021, @05:38AM

      by MIRV888 (11376) on Thursday September 30 2021, @05:38AM (#1183040)

      The issue becomes 'What do we do with all these people when we don't need human labor anymore?'.
      Because that day is getting closer and closer.