Bandit, a “socially assistive robot” developed at USC’s Viterbi School of Engineering, could be the first in the next generation of personal trainers. And he looks like he might give human trainers a run for their money.
You know those annoying “motivational” catchphrases that personal trainers throw at you that make you want to punch them in the face? Bandit’s got those down: “I am having so much fun. I could do this all day,” he snipes in his robotic voice. Yeah, of course you could, Bandit! You have frakkin’ servos for arms and an unending supply of electrical energy! …Okay, so I don’t have a good relationship with people who try to make me exercise.
Bandit will be used by USC in an effort to evaluate robots as exercise coaches for adults of all ages, with a particular focus on the elderly.
The effort, entitled “Robot Motivator: Towards Adaptive Health Games for Productive Long-Term Interaction,” will examine the influence of virtual social characters on people’s motivation to exercise.
So far it looks like Bandit has an uphill battle to motivate us lazy humans. The subject in Bandit’s first training video doesn’t even get out of his chair… Check out the video below to see Bandit in action:
I would smash Bandit if he tried to make me workout.
Careful, DigDoug, you might break a sweat doing that.
The look of this robot makes me think of “Ghost in the Shell”.
BEST.ANIME.EVER
Ghost in the Shell is indeed awesome!