Smartphones Are Now Control Hubs for Personal Service Robots
智能手机现在是个人服务机器人的控制中心
The next decade will see huge strides in artificial intelligence and connectivity, supported by the internet of things. All this creates the technological foundation for the growing smart home market, especially in the domestic robot segment. In its global forecast, MarketAndMarkets predicts that the global value of domestic robot market will hit $9.1 billion by 2024 with a CAGR of 22.4%.
未来十年，在物联网的支持下，人工智能和互联互通将取得巨大进展。所有这些都为智能家居市场的成长奠定了技术基础，尤其是在国内机器人领域。MarketAndMarkets在其全球预测中预测，到2024年，国内机器人市场的全球价值将达到91亿美元，复合年增长率为22.4%。
This is where mobile gadgets come into their own: they will be the devices used to issue commands to these various robots and other smart home appliances through one or more mobile applications. AI enhancements are making it possible to manage these semi-autonomous devices as robotic vacuum cleaners and lawn mowers remotely via a smartphone or a smartwatch, the latter being a big part of iOS app development services right now. Yet, in order to ensure these interactions are as painless as possible, much work needs to be undertaken to streamline and optimize conversations with all these disparate helpers.
这就是移动设备产生的地方：它们将是通过一个或多个移动应用程序向这些各种机器人和其他智能家电发出命令的设备。人工智能的增强使得通过智能手机或智能手表远程管理这些半自动设备成为可能，比如机器人吸尘器和割草机，智能手表现在是iOS应用程序开发服务的重要组成部分。然而，为了确保这些交互尽可能无痛，需要做很多工作来简化和优化与所有这些不同助手的对话。
There are physical solutions that can coordinate devices, known as smart home hubs. One example of that would be Samsung's SmartThings, priced at about $65 and rated as a best-seller in the home automation hubs category. However, being hardware-based, these devices have a rather limited connectivity range for a truly remote interaction, allowing only voice commands in the proximity or direct tapping on the user interface.
有一些物理解决方案可以协调设备，称为智能家居集线器。其中一个例子就是三星的SmartThings，售价约为65美元，被评为家庭自动化中心类别的畅销书。然而，以硬件为基础，这些设备对于真正的远程交互具有相当有限的连接范围，只允许在用户界面上接近或直接窃听语音命令。
Software-based smart home management hubs are a different thing. Installed on your smartphone or wearable, they go wherever you go and provide an unprecedented level of convenience and security. This didn’t escape big tech players’ attention; that’s why each of the renowned smart home controller vendors like Amazon, Google, or Logitech offer free mobile apps compatible with a range of smart home appliances, including domestic robots.
Let’s take a look at the robotic household of 2019 to see where the smartphone as a go-to communication medium will become even more irreplaceable.
基于软件的智能家居管理中心是另一回事。安装在智能手机或可穿戴设备上，无论您走到哪里，它们都能提供前所未有的便利和安全性。这并没有逃过大型科技公司的注意；这就是为什么亚马逊、谷歌或罗技（Logitech）等知名智能家居控制器供应商都提供与包括家用机器人在内的一系列智能家电兼容的免费移动应用程序的原因
让我们来看看2019年的机器人家庭，看看智能手机作为一种走向通信媒介将变得更加不可替代。
The Assisted Household: Where Robots Belong
While domestic robots were only imaginable as a sci-fi fixture a few decades ago, now they are omnipresent. In its latest report, the International Federation of Robotics stated that nearly 8.5 million units of personal service robots were shipped in 2017 alone. This figure includes domestic, entertainment and leisure robots, typically categorized according to their functions:
受助家庭：机器人的归属
几十年前，家用机器人还只是科幻小说里的固定装置，但现在它们无处不在。国际机器人联合会在其最新报告中称，仅2017年就有近850万台个人服务机器人发货。这一数字包括家用、娱乐和休闲机器人，通常按其功能分类：
- Task-oriented robots for domestic chores and surveillance
- 面向任务的家务和监视机器人
- Healthcare robots for personal fitness and management of chronic and life-threatening illnesses
- 用于个人健身和慢性病和危及生命的疾病管理的医疗机器人
- Educational robots that both assist with and engage in education
- 既协助又参与教育的教育机器人
- Entertainment assistants that range from drone control to smart movie catalog browsers
- 从无人机控制到智能电影目录浏览器的娱乐助理
Now, let’s take a closer look at each of these categories.
现在，让我们仔细看看这些类别中的每一个。
Getting the Job Done: Task-oriented Robots
完成任务：面向任务的机器人
These are robots and devices we are already familiar with. While we have grown up with washing machines and dishwashers, these can now be pre-programmed and instructed to start, pause, or end a task.
这些是我们已经熟悉的机器人和设备。当我们在洗衣机和洗碗机中长大时，这些设备现在可以预先编程并指示开始、暂停或结束任务。
As far as actual robots go, Roomba immediately springs to mind. The little vacuum cleaner has been around for some time now in many households, together with its outdoor cousin, the automatic lawn mower. Here comes the smartphone: the iRobot HOME app was specifically designed for remote management of Roomba vacuum cleaners, including scheduling, smart space mapping, and more.
就实际的机器人而言，Roomba立刻浮现在脑海中。这个小吸尘器已经在许多家庭中使用了一段时间，它和它的室外同类自动割草机一起使用。智能手机来了：iRobot家庭应用程序是专门为Roomba吸尘器的远程管理而设计的，包括日程安排、智能空间地图等。
This category also includes security devices, such as CCTV and intrusion detection systems, that can transmit a signal to the owner's mobile device. Another example of a mobile-led task-oriented robot, a baby monitor can be tracked from the next room and anywhere in the world alike.
这一类还包括安全设备，如闭路电视和入侵检测系统，它们可以向用户的移动设备发送信号。另一个移动式led任务导向机器人的例子是，可以从隔壁房间和世界任何地方跟踪婴儿监视器。
Staying Fit and Healthy
保持健康
With the introduction of wearables and fitness apps, this category is already well-embedded into millions of peoples’ daily routine. A virtual personal trainer can now be easily "hired" by anyone interested in keeping fit. Personal health management by checking heart rate and temperature via a wearable is also easily accessible.
随着可穿戴设备和健身应用的推出，这一类别已经深入到数百万人的日常生活中。现在，任何对保持健康感兴趣的人都可以轻松地“雇佣”虚拟私人教练。通过可穿戴设备检查心率和体温的个人健康管理也很容易获得。
Further developments in managing one's personal health will evolve as the use of big data and artificial intelligence in healthcare matures. Just earlier this year, Samsung unveiled its latest Bot Care device at CES in Las Vegas. The little robot can perform a range of health-tracking activities, making the user’s vitals and other data accessible to family members and medical professionals as needed. While it’s still in the demo phase, we can soon expect more robots like Bot Care on the personal health tech market.
随着大数据和人工智能在医疗保健领域的应用日趋成熟，个人健康管理的进一步发展将不断发展。就在今年早些时候，三星在拉斯维加斯的消费电子展上发布了最新的机器人关怀设备。这个小机器人可以执行一系列的健康跟踪活动，让家庭成员和医疗专业人员可以根据需要访问用户的生命体征和其他数据。虽然它还处于演示阶段，但我们很快就可以预期，在个人健康技术市场上会出现更多像机器人护理这样的机器人。
Tireless and intelligent, healthcare robots can help us keep tabs on our health condition as well as the environment metrics like air quality and humidity. Combined, this can enable earlier detection of life-threatening illnesses and better, more hands-on management of chronic disorders.
不知疲倦和智能化的医疗机器人可以帮助我们密切关注我们的健康状况以及环境指标，如空气质量和湿度。综合起来，这可以使早期发现危及生命的疾病，更好地、更实际地处理慢性疾病。
Learning with Robotic Assistants
使用机器人助手学习
Education has seen a massive disruption via online offerings and the rise of MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses). Lifelong learning is a necessity, not a luxury, and robots will assist in a variety of ways here, both inside and outside the classroom.
通过在线课程和MOOCs（大规模开放在线课程）的兴起，教育出现了巨大的混乱。终身学习是必要的，而不是奢侈的，机器人将在教室内外以各种方式提供帮助。
There are more than a few projects underway to build AI-powered robot teachers, which are meeting a particularly high demand when it comes to teaching foreign language to children. Robin and Elias are just two examples of friendly humanoid robots helping toddlers and older kids learn English. While they are architecturally autonomous, learning assistants like Tega, a social robot, are smartphone-based and interacted with using a visual user interface.
目前，有多个项目正在进行中，以建立人工智能驱动的机器人教师，这是满足一个特别高的要求时，教学外语的孩子。罗宾和埃利亚斯只是两个友好的仿人机器人帮助幼儿和大一点的孩子学习英语的例子。虽然它们在架构上是自主的，但像Tega这样的学习助手是基于智能手机的，使用可视化用户界面进行交互。
Having Fun and Managing Lifestyle
享受乐趣和管理生活方式
Whether it is controlling a drone, playing social games, or merely organizing one's movie collection, robots and apps are supporting the state of play.
无论是控制无人机、玩社交游戏，还是仅仅组织自己的电影收藏，机器人和应用程序都在支持游戏状态。
Robots in this space will become the social robots of the next decade, once AI has matured to the point where these aids become more like a human analog. Amazon's Alexa, a virtual personal assistant, is a case in point. Where people are using Alexa to surf the internet or ask for a weather report, there is a new and interesting social relationship between the owner and the device. Alexa is normally housed in Amazon's Echo device, but any other device that is Alexa-enabled can be used, including the smartphone.
一旦人工智能成熟到更像人类模拟物的程度，这个领域的机器人将成为未来十年的社交机器人。亚马逊的虚拟私人助理Alexa就是一个很好的例子。在人们使用Alexa上网或要求气象报告的地方，用户和设备之间有一种新的有趣的社交关系。Alexa通常安装在亚马逊的Echo设备中，但任何启用Alexa的设备都可以使用，包括智能手机。
Our Robotic Future
我们的机器人未来
Whether you are a technophile or a luddite, one thing is clear: much of the routine work in a household can be carried out by a robotic device even now. Those rosy predictions of what smart home will look like are being fulfilled as you read this. Chances are, you will be using your smartphone to orchestrate all this domestic activity, in coordination with a device like Echo, where you can ask Alexa to order you a pizza to be there when you get home.
无论你是一个技术爱好者还是一个路德派，有一件事是很清楚的：即使是现在，家庭中的许多日常工作都可以通过机器人装置来完成。当你读到这篇文章的时候，那些关于智能家居将会是什么样子的乐观预测正在被实现。很有可能，你会用你的智能手机来协调所有这些家庭活动，配合像Echo这样的设备，你可以让Alexa在你回家的时候给你点一个比萨饼
Facets of your life, like managing your health, can be ‘outsourced’ to a wearable on your wrist that can "talk" to your phone. Our smartphones are becoming much more than devices for communicating via voice and texts. They are becoming our passports to a less cluttered life, where you have delegated much of the mundane to this small and vital object.
你生活的方方面面，比如管理你的健康，可以“外包”到手腕上的一个可穿戴设备上，它可以和你的手机“通话”。我们的智能手机已经不仅仅是通过语音和文本进行通信的设备。他们正在成为我们的护照，以减少混乱的生活，在那里，你已经委托了这个小而重要的对象世俗的大部分。
