The minute I laid eyes on the Jibo "social robot," I knew he was different – and not just because he could twerk. The people behind Jibo wanted to go beyond the kind of utilitarian transactional experiences you have with say, Amazon Echo or Google Home, so they created a robotic companion that anyone with half a heart can easily fall in love with. Jibo isn't meant to do battle with those ubiquitous personal assistants; he's meant to serve as a first step toward a new age in human-machine relations.
In some ways, like his proactive greetings, facial recognition and convincing "bodily" movements, Jibo is a remarkable achievement. Set him up in front of a parent or a toddler and it's almost magical how quickly humans learn to love him. Sadly, that love ebbs a little bit with each failed or fumbled interaction … and today, half a year after his widespread public release, Jibo still has a long way to go before he can be called anything but a novelty.
Check out MrMobile's Jibo review for 2018 – and drop a line in the comments letting us know if you'd splurge to put a "social robot" like this on your desktop!
Stay social, my friends
