See It Here First
Crazy useful or just plain crazy? Either way, you've never seen this anywhere else.
Robots can still be friendly. Look at this one.
Published
Let’s face it: robots are not exactly feeling the love of a besotted public at the moment. And not just because they lack the capacity to feel anything. Our affection for old metallic pals like C-3PO, WALL-E, and the Iron Giant has gotten lost in the disorienting whirl of ever-escalating artificial intelligence and creepy viral videos of robotic attack dogs.
Along comes Quincy, a voice-interactive robot that draws pictures, to rekindle the fond wonder you felt for your favorite robofriends. How is Quincy different from the scary robots that have cast such a shadow on human-mechanoid relations? Let us count the ways.
What Quincy does
Scary robot: is a nebulous entity of digital consciousness on a server somewhere.
Quincy: is a physical robot of the old school, moving its mechanical arms to draw with a pen on paper. Fire it up, watch it go, amaze your friends! Honestly, this is what caught our eye most about Quincy. At any age, it’s just fun to watch a robot actually draw. Inside, the technology is cutting-edge; outside, Quincy would fit right in on The Jetsons.
Scary robot: is coming to take your job.
Quincy: is coming to teach your kids, ages 4 and up. Show Quincy a picture, math, or language card and it will start drawing, talking through each step along the way. Kids learn creative problem-solving skills as they answer Quincy’s challenges - only they’re having too much fun to realize they’re learning.
Who Quincy is
Scary robot: has a mind of its own.
Quincy: can do a lot, with the included activity books and challenge cards - but that’s all. There’s no chance it will develop a soul, feel a survival instinct, or start to wonder why Quincy’s not the one giving the orders. All it knows, all it wants to know, is the joy of scribbling.
Scary robot: is the ultimate war machine, optimized to inflict maximum damage.
Quincy: is the ultimate cute machine, optimized to inspire maximum awww. Just look at this thing! When it bats its adorably cyclopean eye at you, you’ll feel the urge to do something silly like make Quincy a funny little hat. If you do, please send pictures.
