Remember when the new millenium hit and we began to envision a future in which robots carried out many traditional jobs? SpaceVR is helping to make that reality.
When it’s not launching 360 cameras into the solar system, this San Francisco-based startup is building an automaton system that uses VR to get robots to carry out simple tasks, side-stepping many of the computational issues still being worked out for bleeding-edge AI systems.
Instead of complex image recognition, a VR user is able to pick up a pair of positional-tracked controllers like the Vive wands or Oculus Touch controllers and act out something as simple as scooping food from a plate, which a connected robot will then imitate with its hands making the exact moves the controllers do.
You can see founder Ryan Holmes showcasing the tech in a video below.
Speaking to UploadVR, Holmes said that Human would power low cost labor by skipping the AI factor. “As these jobs are performed, we will introduce automation blocks one task at a time using the data gathered from the tasks being performed until all human tasks are automated,” he said over email. Holmes imagines a world in which making food, performing manufacturing jobs, bar-tending, painting, playing games, elder care, child care and more can all be taken care of by robots.
Similar work is being carried out by Elon Musk’s AI company, OpenAI, though we’ve only seen that system being used to stack blocks so far.
SpaceVR plans to continue building out and demoing its tech in the months to come. It might not be too long before we see VR play a major role in a new type of industry revolution, then.
