More often than not, those who have busy schedules wish for something like a personal assistant. A personal assistant in the form of a robot would make even the busiest of people happy, and that’s why Samsung has worked ahead of the curve to create their own version of just that. Similar to Apple’s Siri and Amazon’s own Echo, this is a robot that does what you want it to do so that your own life is made that much easier. Siri, as any Apple enthusiast knows, responds to voice commands. She looks up information on the internet, provides you with a detailed schedule, makes calls, performs tasks and all without disobeying you, asking for a sick day or taking any personal time away from your office.
Echo is very similar, but comes in its own black column rather than housed in your phone or other Apple device. It’s less portable, but just as functional in the office or at work. Samsung plans to name their new personal assistant robot Otto, but it’s vastly different than other robots already on the market. For one, Otto is quite tangible, has its own screen to portray a face and it allows you to feel as if you have someone there for you when you are busy enough to need an assistant. Just don’t expect Otto to make you a cup of coffee when you are in the middle of a big project and do not want to run the risk of interrupting your flow.
What is unique about Otto is its ability to connect to other devices around the house. This means it’s friendly with your house, allowing it to control any device to which it is hooked up. This could be your phone, your Nest thermostat or any other smart features such as music that you have around your home or office. Otto also has the distinct ability to recognize faces with its very FBI-like facial recognition software. This works well because the robot learns to recognize those in your office or home, allowing it to more easily complete tasks and even work as a type of security device by recording faces and becoming useful should the law actually need that information.
Otto is not yet available for you to bring home to the family, but Samsung does hope to release the prototype the company showed off at its latest conference in the coming months. The company is working to see if Otto will work efficiently in the home and office, tweaking the personal assistant robot to make it more user-friendly and efficient, and also looking for a way to make it that much more than other personal assistant programs already on the market. Hopefully, Otto will become more useful than Siri, who refuses to do anything for me when I ask nicely but will do anything my husband asks with a little note of love attached to it. Otto is more tangible, and Samsung hopes that makes the product that much more appealing to consumers.
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