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The future is apparently here. And it's creepier than we ever imagined—even when we were playing around with tethering Teddy Ruxpin to the Internet. A Japanese company called Vinclu ("a company that makes crazy things and supports crazy people") is now taking pre-orders from Japan and the United States for a new interactive, artificial-intelligence driven home automation system. Called Gatebox, the new Internet-of-Things product takes Amazon's Alexa, Google Home, Spike Jonze's film Her , and the "holographic" anime characters of Vocaloid concerts to their unified natural conclusion.
Wait, what?
Gatebox, priced at ¥321,840 (about $2,700 US), is squarely targeted at young lonely salarymen and all brands of anime-obsessed otaku—promising the experience of "living with your favorite character." The size of a home coffee-maker, with a footprint no larger than a sheet of A4 printer paper, the device's main feature is a clear projection tube that displays a computer-animated avatar for the AI's "character." Vinclu apparently is planning multiple possible personalities for Gatebox—which, as part of the device's backstory, is a gateway to the dimension the character lives in.
A company like this could release the first strong AI product (kawaii slave?).
Beginner's definition of "waifu" for the uninitiated.
Update: Another article indicates that "[There's also] HDMI and PC inputs to allow the owner to make their own modifications and create their own characters."
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Unixnut on Tuesday December 20 2016, @06:02PM
> I wonder about smart house bullshit, when a couple decades from now all houses will either be in favellas and have no electricity or have hundreds of human servants employed and there are no houses in between to install "smart house" junk into.
The favellas will have full smart house technology, along with Electricity and three square meals a day. Perhaps some cheap low level entertainment. After all, you need your serfs to be fed and borderline content, otherwise they won't be useful to you (make them too happy and they won't be willing to work much, it is a balancing act).
Plus, the peasants may get uppity, try to organise some sort of revolt, or a strike. You can't have that. So smart house tech will allow for full and constant monitoring of who is in which house, for how long, possibly even a good idea of what they are saying/doing or if they seem to not be a their terminal station taking care of their tasks for the day.
Oh... you thought the smart house tech was for YOUR benefit? Silly idea that.
I suspect the rich won't have smart house tech, you don't want a record of what you get up to in your mansion after all. It is your private property, and you are rich enough to afford privacy, and the discretion needed to enjoy your indulgences to the full. There is no shortage of cheap labour to actually do the stuff you are too lazy to do yourself, plus they will keep their mouths shut, lest they end up back in the favellas with the rest.
This is pretty much how all recent technical advances have turned out. I suspect pretty much same idea with self driving cars (hence the powers that be seem so keen to push them). One day you will find that only the rich can go where they want, the poor will only be able to pick from a select number of "approved" destinations the car will drive them to (assuming you even get to pick, your destination could be at their discretion if they so desire). Don't want the serfs prying too much in areas they are not wanted, they might realise some things that would be more convenient if they didn't.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by takyon on Tuesday December 20 2016, @06:58PM
"This automated ride is sponsored by Tesco."
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