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https://nerdist.com/article/ballie-pet-robot/
BB-8, roll aside, for we have here a new, IRL spherical robot from Samsung—and this one makes cute little beeping sounds, too. The little ball of electronics goes by “Ballie” and apparently its aim is to be both a user’s pet and their own personal Alfred.
Samsung’s teaser clip showing off Ballie’s capabilities.
Recently revealed at this year’s CES in Las Vegas, Ballie is an example of Samsung’s “human-centric vision of robots,” which the company says “takes personalized care to the next level.” In the teaser clip showing off what Ballie can do (above), we see it perform various tasks via bluetooth commands (probably), including: opening the shades, activating a wake-up alarm, filming people so they can see themselves in real time, entertaining the dog, and ordering an autonomous vacuum to clean up a spill.
During Samsung’s demonstration at CES (below), Ballie rolled itself onto the stage, and followed Samsung Consumer Electronics President and CEO H.S. Kim around for about two minutes. Ballie’s introduction was a subsection of Samsung’s overall electronics presentation, which it referred to as the “Age of Experience,” and promoted “a decade of human-centric innovation.”
A closeup of Ballie.
According to Samsung Newsroom, Ballie is “a small, rolling robot that understands you, supports you, and reacts to your needs to be actively helpful around the house.” And while there isn’t too much information regarding technical details currently available, Samsung does say that Ballie uses “on-device AI.” This isn’t a surprise considering the fact that neural networks are making their way into countless IoT (Internet of Things) devices, and are required for capabilities that Ballie promises to have.
Samsung says that even though Ballie will be AI-powered, and capable of seeking “solutions for people’s changing needs,” it won’t affect their privacy standards. Obviously it’s difficult to say whether this will be true or not once the Ballies roll out to the masses, but there’s no question they’ll be hackable and full of their owners’ personal information. (Perhaps Ballie will have some kind of self-destruct feature?)
BB-8 + Wall-E = Ballie
#CES2020 pic.twitter.com/PwJBDGyN37
— Sun Ray (@sunsarray) January 7, 2020
There are no details regarding what Ballie will retail for, or when it will be released, but a cursory glance at twitter’s reaction to the rolling smart gadget seems to suggest possible demand. It’s hard to say how capable Ballie’s tech is at this point though, as it’s only been shown following Kim around while keeping its distance. But it’s undeniably cute, and maybe it can Babu Frik its way into people’s homes, where it can tamper with things and kind of make them work.
What do you think about Ballie? If it retails for a reasonable price, would you buy this little, rolling robot, or do you think the privacy concerns outweigh the possibility of increased convenience? Let us know your opinions in the comments before Ballie takes over that function too!
Images: Samsung
The post ‘Ballie’ Is a Rolling Pet Robot That Controls Your Home appeared first on Nerdist.
BB-8, roll aside, for we have here a new, IRL spherical robot from Samsung—and this one makes cute little beeping sounds, too. The little ball of electronics goes by “Ballie” and apparently its aim is to be both a user’s pet and their own personal Alfred.
Samsung’s teaser clip showing off Ballie’s capabilities.
Recently revealed at this year’s CES in Las Vegas, Ballie is an example of Samsung’s “human-centric vision of robots,” which the company says “takes personalized care to the next level.” In the teaser clip showing off what Ballie can do (above), we see it perform various tasks via bluetooth commands (probably), including: opening the shades, activating a wake-up alarm, filming people so they can see themselves in real time, entertaining the dog, and ordering an autonomous vacuum to clean up a spill.
During Samsung’s demonstration at CES (below), Ballie rolled itself onto the stage, and followed Samsung Consumer Electronics President and CEO H.S. Kim around for about two minutes. Ballie’s introduction was a subsection of Samsung’s overall electronics presentation, which it referred to as the “Age of Experience,” and promoted “a decade of human-centric innovation.”
A closeup of Ballie.
According to Samsung Newsroom, Ballie is “a small, rolling robot that understands you, supports you, and reacts to your needs to be actively helpful around the house.” And while there isn’t too much information regarding technical details currently available, Samsung does say that Ballie uses “on-device AI.” This isn’t a surprise considering the fact that neural networks are making their way into countless IoT (Internet of Things) devices, and are required for capabilities that Ballie promises to have.
Samsung says that even though Ballie will be AI-powered, and capable of seeking “solutions for people’s changing needs,” it won’t affect their privacy standards. Obviously it’s difficult to say whether this will be true or not once the Ballies roll out to the masses, but there’s no question they’ll be hackable and full of their owners’ personal information. (Perhaps Ballie will have some kind of self-destruct feature?)
BB-8 + Wall-E = Ballie
— Sun Ray (@sunsarray) January 7, 2020
There are no details regarding what Ballie will retail for, or when it will be released, but a cursory glance at twitter’s reaction to the rolling smart gadget seems to suggest possible demand. It’s hard to say how capable Ballie’s tech is at this point though, as it’s only been shown following Kim around while keeping its distance. But it’s undeniably cute, and maybe it can Babu Frik its way into people’s homes, where it can tamper with things and kind of make them work.
What do you think about Ballie? If it retails for a reasonable price, would you buy this little, rolling robot, or do you think the privacy concerns outweigh the possibility of increased convenience? Let us know your opinions in the comments before Ballie takes over that function too!
Images: Samsung
The post ‘Ballie’ Is a Rolling Pet Robot That Controls Your Home appeared first on Nerdist.
Sometimes fandom is nice! I know, it feels like it’s rare nowadays, but it’s still pleasant to be reminded of the good in the world fans can do. After fans of Kylo Ren, Adam Driver and the ship of Rey and Kylo – aka “Reylo” – were disappointed by their favorite fallen character’s fate in The Rise of Skywalker, they decided that they would show their affection not by harassing people or yelling online, but by raising funds for a charity created and supported by Adam Driver: Arts in the Armed Forces.
Arts in the Armed Forces was founded by Driver – who enlisted in the marines after the September 11th terrorist attacks in 2001 – to, as they state on their site “use the powerful shared experience of the arts to start conversations between military and civilian, service member and family member, the world of the arts and the world of practical action.”
The Reylo and Ben Solo family started a GoFundMe campaign the same day as The Rise of Skywalker was released and fans began to realize that their favorite didn’t get the ending they wanted for him. We won’t debate whether Ben Solo’s end was just right now, but Adam was, in my opinion, the strongest performer in the film and I definitely see why fans are drawn to him. This campaign was called “The Rise of Ben Solo” and blew past its initial goal of $10,000 in a day.
In the weeks since the GoFundMe has raised just over $53,000 for Driver’s charity and today Driver himself sent a message of thanks to the fans.
A message from AITAF Founder Adam Driver pic.twitter.com/EFbSSSn2q0
— Arts in the Armed Forces (@AITAF) January 7, 2020
We don’t have to agree on Ben Solo or Reylo, but we can agree that fandom is at its best when it creates a place for people to support others, be kind and do good through art. Good work, Kylo fans!
(image: LucasFilm)
Here are a few other things we say today:
- Prozac Nation author Elizabeth Wurtzel has died at age 52. (via USA Today)
- The CW just renewed pretty much everything on their lineup that’s not already in a final season. Yes, that includes Dynasty. (Via TVLine).
- Yay!
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The first national US observatory to be named after a woman! @LSST is now the NSF Vera C. Rubin Observatory (Rubin Observatory or VRO for short). https://t.co/j3EpAwwLSF
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Here’s a nice promo video: https://t.co/7lYTgFjGlF pic.twitter.com/JPMhESSS56
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— ★ dr amanda bauer ★ (@astropixie) January 7, 2020
- Lindsay Ellis takes on the myth of the Girl Boss:
- As Weiststein goes to trial, we need to think about the men we allow to make comebacks. (via HuffPo)
- Somehow men have found a way to blame women for … the lack of women in games? (via Kotaku)
- And finally, The Honest Trailer For … Every Quentin Tarantino flick.
That’s all we saw today, dear Mary Suevians. How about you? Are you back in the swing of things after the holiday or ready to go back to bed?
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We’re less than a week away from the announcement of the nominees for the 92nd Academy Awards, and things are looking good for many front runners, but not so great for our chances for a diverse field of nominees. With women shut out of the Golden Globes and DGAs and the BAFTAs giving us a shockingly and completely white slate of nominees, it’s up to the Oscars to hopefully get some new, diverse blood in.
Let’s look at the big categories and who we think will, and should get nominations, and what that could mean.
Best Supporting Actress:
If there’s an award that already seems sewn up, it’s this one. Laura Dern, BAFTA, and SAG nominee and Golden Globe Winner feels all but anointed to be nominated, and to win, for her work in Marriage Story, which is fine. She’s great in the role but I still think Jennifer Lopez deserves it for Hustlers. Lopez is pretty certain to get a nomination (at least I hope she is), but the remainder of the field is anyone’s guess.
I think Scarlett Johansson might get in there for her work in JoJo Rabbit, and maybe SAG nominee and BAFTA double nominees Margot Robbie for either Bombshell or Once Upon a Tim in Hollywood … even if neither of those performances is particularly fantastic. Maybe Annette Benning for The Report or Kathy Bates for Richard Jewell, who both got Golden Globe noms, will sneak in.
But we’d love to see Zhao Shuzhen of The Farewell or Da’Vine Joy Randolph of Dolomite is My Name to get more diversity on the list and change things up and the odds say that might happen.
Best Supporting Actor:
This is another one that many feel is a forgone conclusion: It’s Brad Pitt’s year and he’ll be nominated and win not so much for his work in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, but for being, well, Brad Pitt. Who will join him in the race? We’ll probably get a double Irishman bill with nods of Joe Pesci and Al Pacino, and Tom Hanks also seems like a shoo-in for A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood.
But, ugh, this list though is even whiter than best supporting actress. Could we break the monotony and get Jamie Foxx in there for Just Mercy, as we saw with the SAG awards or even Song Kang Ho of Parasite? Taika Watiti for Jojo Rabbit? Or will it go to a fifth white guy, like Anthony Hopkins in The Two Popes?
Best Actress
Again, and sadly, it’s felt like this one has had a predictable frontrunner for a while in the “awards narratives” but there’s more room here for some upsets. Renee Zellweger will get nominated for Judy even though no one really saw it. And the initial shortlist looks to be an embarrassment of skinny blonde ladies: ScarJo for Marriage Story, Charlize Theron for Bombshell (even though no one is seeing the movie either) and, maybe most deservedly, Saoirse Ronan for Little Women.
But we hope the Oscars find a spot for Globe-winner Awkwafina for The Farewell rather than Charlize. Lupita Nyong’o of Us and Cynthia Erivo of Harriet were both nominated for the SAG best actress award so it’s totally possible to nominate more than one woman of color for an award!
Best Actor
This category is insanely stacked this year – which says a lot about the male-dominated stories Hollywood’s old guard was into and it’s kind of depressing. We’rel looking at for sure nominations for Joaquin Phoenix for Joker (sigh), Adam Driver for Marriage Story (yes!) and our old friend Leonardo DiCaprio for OUATIH (snore). Who could come in and shake this up? Well, Taron Eggerton’s great turn in Rocketman has momentum coming off his Globe win and SAG and BAFTA nominations … but the fifth SAG nominee was Christian Bale and do we really want an entirely white slate here? Or Johnathan Pryce like the BAFTAs?
No! Let’s hope Eddie Murphy gets on for Dolomite is my Name, Antonio Banderas for Pain and Glory. I’ll take either of those over Robert DiNiro again. Or maybe Adam Sandler will surprise us all with a nom for Uncut Gems.
Best Director
This is the category with the most potential to give us an incredibly infuriating set of nominees. We could very well end up with the following five: Quentin Tarantino for OUATIH, Martin Scorsese for The Irishman, Noah Baumbach for Marriage Story, Sam Mendes for 1917 and Todd Haynes for Joker and please god NO.
Let me live in the alternate, happier world where the list looks more like the Directors Guild nominees with spots for Bong Joon Ho for Parasite, Taika Waititi for Jojo Rabbit. Let’s get Greta Gerwig, Lulu Wang, Marielle Heller or Lorene Scafaria in! So many great films this year were directed by women and we will all be rightfully outraged if we don’t get at least one on the director nomination list.
Best Picture
This one is tricky because the new standard of up to ten nominees means that there’s the potential for a lot of surprises on this list—and a lot of foregone conclusions as well. Here’s what I think/hope we’ll see on the list: 1917, Once Upon a Time In Hollywood, Parasite, Marriage Story, The Irishman, Little Women, Jojo Rabbit, and yes … Joker. There’s still room for or Knives Out or even Ford v. Ferrari to get on here, which both just scored Producers Guild nominations, but we’ll have to see how it works out. I hope The Farewell makes it on.
We’ll see what makes it on the list soon enough when the nominations are announced next Monday, January 13th. The Oscars themselves will air on ABC on Sunday, February 9th.
(Image: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences)
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