The Robots Are Here
From: Technology Review - 02/01/2004 - Vol. 107, No. 1, P. 30
By: Rodney Brooks

Rodney Brooks, director of MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence
Laboratory, believes robot technology is currently at the same point that
computer technology was in 1978, and contends that robots will become as
ubiquitous as email and the Web in 15 more years. He points out that robots
have begun to migrate from labs to consumer households; robots are also being
employed by the military for reconnaissance missions, while universities
offer robotics graduate programs and are starting to offer undergraduate
courses. Brooks also cites the growth of his company, iRobot, as evidence of
robots' transition to marketable applications. The increasing usability of
robots is directly related to continued advancement in robotic navigation,
which is key to the successful performance of a wide array of machines
ranging from automated lawnmowers to cleaning robots to military
reconnaissance robots. But the market potential for robotic navigation could
be outmatched by that for robot vision and dexterity, Brooks contends.
Textile, home appliance, toy, and electrical goods industries, to name just a
few, could be revolutionized by machines capable of recognizing and precisely
manipulating objects. They would also save a tremendous amount of money in
labor costs. Robot vision and dexterity have a long way to go, but research
into nanotechnology, microelectromechanical systems, motion tracking, and
face recognition is yielding promising results. Brooks thinks that the
emergence of these technologies will dramatically restructure labor markets
and immigration patterns, and adds that the most important application could
be for elder care as the population of aging baby-boomers explodes in Japan,
Europe, and North America. 

http://www.technologyreview.com/articles/brooks0204.asp