CHRONICLING THE ROBOT INDUSTRY
SINCE 2011 © ROBOT RABBI
At the turn of the twentieth century, the swelling populations of newly arrived immigrants in New York City’s Lower East Side reached a boiling point, forcing the City to pass the 1901 Tenement House Act. Recalling this legislation, New York City’s Mayor’s Office recently responded to its own modern housing … Read More
The shock ripped through the industry, on almost every social media platform techies were bemoaning the loss of Anki. As a former robo-toy maker, I read the epitaph months earlier in the title of Lara Sorokanich’s Medium post, “Anki’s AI Robot Is a Delightful (and Expensive) Desk Toy.” When asked … Read More
In the wake of the closure of Apple’s autonomous car division (Project Titan) this week, one questions if Steve Jobs’ axiom still holds true. “Some people say, ‘Give the customers what they want.’ But that’s not my approach. Our job is to figure out what they’re going to want before … Read More
This past week I led a group of 20 American tech investors to Israel in conjunction with the UJA and Israel’s Ministry of Economy and Industry. We witnessed firsthand the innovation that has produced more than $22 billion of investments and acquisitions within the past year. We met with the University that … Read More
The device named “Spark” flew high above the man on stage with his hands waving in the direction of the flying object. In a demonstration of DJI’s newest drone, the audience marveled at the the Coke can-sized device’s most compelling feature – gesture controls. Instead of a traditional remote control, this flying … Read More
RobotLabNYC’s third installment will be June 13th in New York City with Howard Morgan (FirstRound Capital) and Tom Ryden (MassRobotics); together, we will be “Exploring The Autonomous Future” (RSVP today). Coincidentally, Jimmy Fallon featured a new bit this week called “Showbotics,” providing viewers a sneak peek into the robotic future: While Fallon pokes fun, the … Read More
As we prepare for the busiest travel days of the year, it is time to reflect on how far transportation has progressed since the horse & buggy. This past week the number of cities testing autonomous taxis grew to include Boston, with MIT upstart nuTonomy. Equally important to the driverless ecosystem is … Read More
As I sat at the edge of my seat watching HBO’s remake of the 1970s robot series, Westworld, I found myself strangely sympathetic to the robots vs. the “deplorable” human guests. After turning off the TV, I lay awake wondering how close we are from 3D printing humanoid robots capable of entertaining our … Read More
On Monday, Uber launched its fleet of autonomous cars (Ford Fusions) in Pittsburgh, PA. The test represents Uber Chief Executive Travis Kalanick’s audacious vision to one day roll out an entire fleet of autonomous vehicles to replace the company’s roughly 1.5 million drivers and to ferry commuters, packages and food around urban … Read More
So much happened this week, I do not know where to begin. We are still reeling in America from the Dallas ambush. I am reminded that it could have been much worse if it was not for the local police department’s robot that delivered Micah Johnson (the shooter) an explosive … Read More
