Robots have garnered suspicion since scientists first started developing them. As science fiction would have it, there’s one evil HAL 9000 for every diplomatic and useful C-3PO. More likely than not, you’ve read a recent think piece or two about how they’ll take over our jobs and, generally, the world.
But robots have already become an integral part of daily existence, ranging from the planes that fly us to your posh buddy’s Roomba. Whether you consider them friend or foe, you’re about to see more of them in 2019. Here are a few things they’ll be able to do next year.
Finish Your Chores
Why get a dog or do your chores when there exists a bundle of metal and wires that can simulate pupper affection and load your dishwasher? While they aren’t quite cuddly, Boston Dynamics’ SpotMini dogs are far from the dystopian canines in Black Mirror’s “Metalhead” episode. Able to run, jump and hold objects, these look like headless Great Danes, weighing about 60 pounds and measuring less than a yard tall. Fun, right?
Make Your Food
Robots are disrupting the food industry—sorry we just used that phrase. But it’s true, as we’ve seen with San Francisco’s Cafe X, a bot barista that crafts coffee, and Creator, which serves up assembly-line burgers and actually has good Yelp reviews. You can expect to see more robots in the food industry in this upcoming year, especially self-ordering kiosks and pickup systems powered by companies such as Eatsa, which specializes in food automation technology. Softbank even recently funneled $375 million into Zume Pizza, a Bay Area pizza chain whose robots squeeze and spread tomato sauce onto uncooked pizza.
Becoming Artistes
Speaking to the artistic soul of the Bay Area, the world now has a robot that paints murals. The company SprayPrinter, created by Estonian street artist Mihkel Joala, employs a robot named Albert that climbs and paints large-scale canvases. Holding up to six cans of spray paint, the bot can operate 100 times faster than a person. If this makes you roll your eyes, you’re not alone—given that this seems to go against the very idea of what art is. However, the company does say that the bot more often than not works in conjunction with actual artists and their designs. So there’s that. Albert’s handiworks have been featured in Estonia as well as San Jose, Auburn and San Francisco, with more sure to come next year.
Deliver Your Packages
We’ve heard talk about robot delivery for a long time now, but 2019 could be the year in which we see it happen. This cooler-shaped robot from Starship Technologies, which moves at four miles per hour, has been piloting food delivery in Washington, DC, and Redwood City, and it has plans to expand package delivery to the Bay Area. The concept: for $10 a month, you can have your packages delivered to a Starship sorting facility and then schedule a delivery whenever it’s convenient rather than have to guess when the delivery person might show up and try to be home at that time. And, of course, Amazon is also working on something in this realm and will probably win the race, as it does with everything.
Be Smarter Assistants
In 2019, home smart devices will sync up with even more domestic appliances—because why use your hands, ever? Google Home can now help you with adjusting your precision cooker, while Alexa can assist you with making popcorn in the microwave. There’s a lot more to come from both of these gadgets next year. Amazon is also working on the home robot Vesta, a so-called mobile AI assistant. The online giant has been secretive about the project, but many speculate it’ll be like if your Echo could follow you around your home, and who wouldn’t want that?
Teach English
Move over, Rosetta Stone. In 2019, Japan will implement English-teaching trial robots across 500 schools. The bots are a part of Japanese efforts to increase English skills as the country gets ready to host the 2019 Rugby World Cup and 2020 Summer Olympics. Placed in areas with fewer teachers and staff support, the bots will reportedly chat with students, relieving them of the pressure of performing in front a teacher or classmates.
Assist in the Operating Room
Don’t worry—robots won’t be single-handedly performing surgery on you (yet). But with robotic surgery, human surgeons use a robot-like device with advanced instruments and a 3-D camera to help them create small incisions and operate as precisely as possible. Human-operated robotic surgery has been around for awhile, but the technology is quickly getting more advanced. In 2019, the UK-based Versius, a robotic surgery system, will begin operating on patients in England next year. If Versius gets regulatory approval, it could radically expand access to robotic surgery in the UK and worldwide.
Perform at Disney
Most of us have heard of animatronics, the unsettling robots at amusement parks that exist to meander around and creep us out. Disney Imagineers have stepped these up a notch with “Stuntronics,” which are robots that can do impressive stunt acrobatics up to 60 feet in the air. In 2019, they’ll make their debut in Star Wars Land at Hollywood Studios. Another reason to visit the happiest place on earth: the stunt performers can’t die.
Document Crime
Security robots have popped up in shopping malls and apartment complexes over the last few years, but they haven’t really been taken seriously. Remember when this one in DC fell into a fountain? Well, there’s more to come next year, like the Knightscope K5 robot, a five-foot-tall, rocket-shaped security camera that moves around, makes a 3-D map of its physical environment every 20 milliseconds and has a cloud computing brain. The biggest concern here, of course, is privacy, as the robot records audio and video in public spaces. In 2019, they’ll even be at Clovis North High School as a part of Knightscope’s Safer Schools Initiative.
Hey! The Bold Italic recently launched a podcast, This Is Your Life in Silicon Valley. Check out the full season or listen to the episode below featuring Hunter Walk, former head of product at YouTube. More coming soon, so stay tuned!
