Coming soon: A robot for every home

While variety of “robotic” “personal assistants” like the Amazon Echo are already in homes – and many more being developed in the coming year – in reality, most of these machines are still rudimentary, offering info from the data cloud and controlling appliances like lighting and thermostats. But we are only at the beginning. Companies like Robotbase are looking to go further with full-fledged, mobile robots with “artificial intelligence,” meaning that it can speak, read stories to children, give style advice, and, best of all, move on its own. The makers also say “she” (yes, it's a she) can learn from her owners, and from the communal database of users. Consumers can expect to see a range of similar products introduced in the next two years, at decreasing cost. We can't wait until we can just call to our robot from the couch, "beer me," and it will retrieve a cold one from the fridge.