- Apple muestra una lámpara robot en un nuevo trabajo de investigación
- El trabajo puede dar pistas sobre futuros planes de producto, y la expresión está en primer plano
- El prototipo de lámpara robot nos recuerda a Pixar y Disney
¿Has escuchado hablar de los rumores de que Apple está trabajando en proyectos de robótica, sobre todo un robot de sobremesa que podría moverse y tener una pantalla similar a la de un iPad? Seguramente si, ya que las noticias no se han hecho esperar, cabe mencionar que esto inicio con un informe de Bloomberg.
Además, gracias a un nuevo documento de investigación publicado por Apple, ahora tenemos el primer vistazo a un robot construido por la compañía, y es francamente lindo.
En pocas palabras, Apple tiene una lámpara robótica que recuerda mucho al Luxo Jr. de Pixar, y yo estaría encantado de que saliera al mercado. Incluso en esta fase inicial, es un enfoque mucho más lúdico y divertido de la robótica. Aún así, se trata de un prototipo en un trabajo de investigación de Apple Machine Learning, por lo que todavía está lejos de ser algo que se pueda comprar en una tienda.
La lámpara robot se muestra en un vídeo en un trabajo de investigación titulado «ELEGNT: Diseño de movimientos expresivos y funcionales para robots no antropomórficos». Sus autores son Yuhan Hu, Peide Huang, Mouli Sivapurapu y Jian Zhang.
El título muestra el enfoque reflexivo de Apple sobre la robótica. Quiere que el robot sea expresivo, similar a un ser humano. Este enfoque es similar al de los robots Vector y Cozmo de Anki o las caras animadas asociadas al Astro de Amazon, un robot al que sólo se puede invitar.
In the video, you can see how the robot is both expressive and functional, allowing it to interact with the researcher and follow instructions from what appears to be gestures. At one point, it’s asked to move over via a finger flick and responds. Apple’s goal, or at least that of this research team, wants it to be an elegant robot, one that is inviting – important for a device that will be in the home – expressive and ultimately functional.
At one point, almost leaning into Apple’s movements in the health space, it reminds a user to drink water by nudging the glass closer. It’s really cool, and watching the full video – it’s only four minutes and forty-six seconds long – is well worth it.
As a Disney and Pixar fan, I find the vibe seriously similar to that of the fun-loving, sometimes mischievous Luxo Jr. lamp we all know. The lamp seemingly does more than move or illuminate, though. In one scene, it’s shown moving along with an assistant playing a response – likely Siri – so it might have a speaker built-in. In another, it projects a video onto a wall to help with a project the researcher is conducting.
The opening where the lamp comes to life, swinging around, knocking over blocks, and performing a delightful wiggle is simply great. While this doesn’t give exact information on what a future product might look like, it does give us a first glimpse at a robot prototype made by Apple, and that certainly adds a bit more credence to a potential device.
It also shows how Apple is thinking about a device that could be used daily in more one-to-one interactions with people, and there’s a certain amount of care that goes into that. Apple’s ELEGNT is way less dystopian and more fun and welcoming, which is a better way to think about the future.
Apple writes in the research paper, “Nonverbal behaviors such as posture, gestures, and gaze are essential for conveying internal states, both consciously and unconsciously, in human interaction. For robots to interact more naturally with humans, robot movement design should likewise integrate expressive qualities—such as intention, attention, and emotions—alongside traditional functional considerations like task fulfillment, spatial constraints, and time efficiency.”
It’s clear that’s at the top of Apple's mind, and that very well could be a major differentiator for Apple in a space that is increasingly being billed with robots of all sorts. You can see the research paper in full from Apple Machine Learning Research here.
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