There is something very interesting happening in Apple. The most hermetic company in the technology industry, that of permanent secretism, is publicly showing its advances in robotics.
It is no accident.
Apple published a video ago showing a suspiciously similar robotic lamp to Luxo, that of Pixar, which moves with surprisingly human gestures. It is not a product, but a research project. The mere fact that they show it is a good sign of where the company is directed.
While Google, Microsoft and Openai are competing for creating the best conversational, Apple seems to be betting on something very different. Something we could call “emotional computing”in the “spatial computing” line with which it designates the pro vision.
Apple does not want you to talk to your digital assistant, but you feel it as a partner.
It is a very Apple movement. It is the company that humanized domestic computers (ASA, typefaces, the iconic “hello” manuscript). It is the company that turned the mobile phone into something intimate and personal. It is the company that now wants to humanize AI. And does it in its own way: through design, movement and nonverbal expression.
Apple’s robotic lamp is not Alexa with arms. It is something more subtle and deep: An expressive computing exercise that demonstrates that machines can also transmit emotions without words, only with movements of a very concrete style. Pixar taught us (by the way, bought and driven by Steve Jobs) with Luxo: there is no need for a face to have personality.
The strategy makes a lot of sense:
- It clearly differs from competition. They are creating the best chatbot, Apple wants to create the first really empathic robot.
- Play with Apple’s historical forces: human-machine design and interaction.
- You can solve the biggest problem of the current AI: its inherent coldness.
He timing It is also important. Apple does not expect to launch its first robotic product until 2026 at best, probably later, according to Mark Gurman months ago and now has endorsed Ming Chi Kuo in X. Why does his cards show now? Surely for attracting proper talent, but also because they prepare a cultural change.
The massive adoption of domestic robots VAA require not only oootro spending, but also a deep change in our way of thinking about technology in our homes. It is not just functionality, it is a matter of trust, of emotional comfort.
It is a bet that is not risk -free. The consumer can reject the idea that a robot simulates emotions. Privacy concerns will be there. And the cost of these devices, especially in the first waves, will be prohibitive.
But if a company can get it, it is Apple. They did it with the iPhone turning something that seemed science fiction in an indispensable part of our life. Since then, despite successes of a certain size (Airpods, Apple Watch), he has been asking him to replicate him.
Apple sure that you can build expressive robots convincingly, but an even more important part is missing: That we are ready to let the machines not only enter our house, but make us feel an emotional bond. That can be much more difficult to get to put the bug at home.
In WorldOfSoftware | The decline of the “Apple culture”. Blind devotion has evolved towards critical enthusiasm
Outstanding image | Apple, WorldOfSoftware with Mockuuuups Studio
