Amazon’s drone delivery experiment headlined the news earlier this week, but it seems that the next generation of technology is continuing to amaze. Google has revealed that it is working to create a new generation of robots, the New York Times reports.
The man behind Google’s robotics effort is no other than Andy Rubin, who previously led its Android division. For now, Google’s robots aren’t aimed at consumers — instead they will reportedly be targeted at manufacturing in areas such as electronics assembly, and will likely be used in retailing to compete with companies like Amazon.
Rubin tells the NYT that Google’s robotics efforts should be viewed as a ten-year vision. The company has secretly acquired seven robotics-related companies in the US and Japan, which have technologies capable of creating a mobile robot. Rubin notes that breakthroughs are still needed for software and sensors, but hardware issues like moving hands and arms have been solved.
Google is forming a robotics group that will be based initially in Palo Alto, with an office in Japan. Rubin has started hiring roboticists and will rope in other Google programmers as well.
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Google CEO Larry Page says in a Google+ update that he is excited about the Rubin’s project. “His last big bet, Android, started off as a crazy idea that ended up putting a supercomputer in hundreds of millions of pockets. It is still very early days for this, but I can’t wait to see the progress,” Page says.
➤ Google Puts Money on Robots, Using the Man Behind Android [New York Times]
Headline image via Sean Gallup/Getty Images
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