A robotic avatar was caught on video ordering a sugary snack for its master.
Wouldn’t it be weird if you were on the way to work, trying to get a cup of coffee for a pick-me-up, and a robot wheeled up next to you and ordered a scone? That’s exactly what was recently caught on video in Mountain View, CA.
Apparently, photographer Aaron Blumenshine was getting lunch when he noticed a robot rolling down the street. He popped out his camera and filmed it as it entered a local coffee shop.
The robot acted like any other normal human being would, waiting in the line to place its order. The barista informed the robot of the scone flavors the coffee shop carried, it ordered one with a $5 bill attached to its head, gave the barista a $2.75 tip, and carried the scone away in a bag. As the coffee shop patrons filmed and took pictures, the robot said: “I didn’t know there’d be so much paparazzi in this coffee shop!”
The robot was not a VGO like the one used by an unhealthy boy to attend school, but it was similar. It was an Anybot, sold by Anybots, Inc as a robotic avatar meant for these kinds of tasks.
These robots aren’t the autonomous world-destroyers we’ll hopefully never encounter, but it’s still a little weird to see one on the streets. It’ll be even weirder when Anybots or other similar robotic models become bipedal and start expanding their abilities past ordering pastries.
Source: Aaron Blumenshine’s Blog, via Technabob
