Perhaps I've read and seen too much Science Fiction, but I can see WowWee producing androids in the future that are our robotic butlers. What do you think is currently preventing mankind in general from taking this next step? Is it technological, cost or perhaps a general subconscious resistance on the part of people?
I've said many times since I've started at WowWee that the hardest part about building robots is people. This is true on many levels.
People live in very unstructured environments. The device you are hinting at would need to be mechanically capable enough to get around and manipulate objects in our world. So first of all it would have to be able to get around without damaging something or getting stuck in a corner. Those are the technical challenges: capable mechanics and safe navigation.
People tend to have very high expectations from any type of intelligent device. An autonomous robot driving around a home would have a lot to live up to and the first versions will need to provide some useful, robust and practical capabilities.
