This idea is interesting. Most people listen to the radio for something to pass the time, weather its talk radio or music. I worry your idea may take that distraction one step to far. When you are talking to someone in the car they are also part of the drive they know when to stop talking or when to yell to hit the breaks, people on cell phones do not. Your device is like that it can not know what is happening around you and their for is a distraction which could be dangerous.
On the other hand children are a huge distraction while driving, so if you were able to create some kind of robot toy or enteranment system for them to keep the quite then thats where this idea could take off...

Keep it up, do not get discouraged use all the feedback you get her to develop your idea into something amazing.

Good luck

Hi Brenden -- thanks for the comments. Those are really good points about safety and that's one reason why maybe the teen driving segment might not be a good choice (even though Robo might be popular with them).

I didn't envision Robo being a constant source of conversation, just a few random comments here and there. I envisioned Robo being a low price point fun item but perhaps you could integrate some safety features where Robo only talks while the car is stationary...?

I really like your idea about Robo being a toy for kids in the car though -- that is an interesting angle.

I think one of the biggest weaknesses in this idea at the moment is that I don't have a good sense of the target market -- would it be a toy for commuting adults bored in their cars, or a pre-teen or teen toy (perhaps even before they can drive before they get their cars) that would be coupled with a virtual world and possibly even some driving educational components, or would it be for little kids as you suggested to keep them entertained in the back seat? If it is an adult toy, what ideas do people have on who might be interested in this -- male/female, age range, etc.?

There is another product out there currently being developed by Pioneer http://www.engadget....t-driving-companion/ where they appear to be focusing more on the safety aspects of a robot driving companion. If Robo was going to go in this direction, I'd like to see him coupled with a virtual world and focus exclusively on the early teen new driver segment.

Robo could go in a much more complicated and expensive direction to have wireless capabilities to interface with your PDA and could brief you on your day, read emails to you, etc. as you drove to work. Again the safety considerations that Brenden brought up are important ones.

I think it could be a cute feature for GPS systems.

Hi rjarvis, thanks for your idea -- can you provide some more detail about what you have in mind? Thanks!

rjarvis has a very very good point! i guess what he intends to say is integrate your robo into he gps system

Hi fossiloflife -- thanks for your comment. So there is a lot of interest in integrating Robo with the GPS system -- do you see Robo still being a toy or being more designed for safety? What features should he have?

If Robo was integrated with the GPS system then there would be the potential benefit of a huge number of these being sold (but only in new cars), however the sales cycle and R&D to get him integrated with an existing product could be long. If he's sold on his own then people can just add them on as a toy to existing cars and sell at a low price point.

Any ideas that you have on this would be much appreciated. Thanks!

Nice idea Alli. Regarding Brenden's comment on distractions, maybe the device could be geared toward minimal (conscious) user input. What about bluetooth-enabled biofeedback sensors mounted on the steering wheel (at 10:00 and 2:00 of course ;-) )? This way, the device could sense your level of tension, and select an appropriate program to either stimulate or calm the driver. Zen mode is great for road rage, but might not be the best thing for long, boring drives where alertness is a problem. In the latter case, a stimulating program would be selected for the driver, and perhaps even suggest to the driver that it's time to pull over and get a cup of coffee.

Integration with GPS could make the robot’s comments more relevant too. Navigation data often includes details like landmarks, speed limits and even scheduled construction in some places.

I really like where Griz went with biofeedback vis a vis safety. Automatically sensing what kind of state of arousal the driver is in and delivering appropriate interjections would be trick and perhaps a feature to differentiate the product from that standpoint. It’s a micro thing, but perhaps an elastic wrist strap would be a good way to collect the data - not built into the vehicle yet easy to take on and off?

It would take away from the cuteness, but rjarvis mentioned this as a “feature” for GPS systems. Perhaps writing Robo as a standalone program to run on a GPS enabled PDA would be a lower cost route to production than building an actual robot at first. If that was successful then the robot (Robo II) could be developed at lower risk.

Can I tack on feature request for Robo II to brew an espresso when the biofeedback sensor detects that I’m tired, I’ve never liked stopping? ;) Really though, as for market, I think the idea would be cost prohibitive as a gadget with even a pretty basic feature-set so must deliver unique function (safety and interesting navigation delivery) to be saleable.

Thanks a lot dewey and Griz for your thoughtful comments. There seems to be a lot of interest in a Robo that is more related to delivering safety and/or helpful driving assistance than to one that is purely for entertainment.

For anyone else from the CH community who is commenting it would be really helpful to have you weigh in for either:

A) a simple, cheap toy-like Robo (more like the initial description above) for entertainment purposes OR

B) a product that is more driven by a need to enhance safety or to provide realtime driving assistance and which could be integrated with existing systems or products like PDA, GPS unit, etc.

I think some of the considerations are that A) would be a low price point item and could be developed with very low collaboration with existing products. B) would deliver considerably more functionality but would require more collaboration with existing products and manufacturers (e.g. GPS, PDA and/or car manufacturers) --> B may also be an area with greater competition as Pioneer is already doing something similar and perhaps the car, GPS, PDA or onstar manufacturers are already looking to expand this way...

It would be *fantastic* to get your thoughts on where the best opportunity is and which considerations you think are most relevant! I will revise the idea description as feedback comes in. Thanks so much...

It might be something like the wi-fi bunny. But, still product development is hard and costly. CH likes stuff you know online and programming based.

Hi Kevin_Cox thanks for your comment -- and the reference to nabaztag bunny -- I hadn't seen that before! But you're right, that's the kind of thing I was thinking about when I first envisioned a toy robot for driving. Although nabaztag bunny has a lot more functionality than I'd thought of -- it looks like he sells for ~$200.

I am new to CH and am not familiar with that's crowdsourceable and what isn't. Is there a forum post somewhere on this?

alli,

I love the idea. I am bored with the radio when I am stuck in traffic.

This idea will give me something else to be occupied with! Thanks!

Someone else had this idea... it was also shot down!

I like this idea.. My hubby would LOVE it on his 1 1/2 hour commute to work..

I'd suggest this be a mobile app... which kills the hardware aesthetics and robot like presence. But really it makes development way easier. AND instead of users having to mount yet another device into their car, its only their mobile which needs to be mounted (AND POWERED).

(Once again Gord mentions ANDROID...)

ANDROID might be a suitable emerging platform. Offering (hopefully) inexpensive GPS tracking and data rates. So instead of offering a heavy client app, some intelligence could be moved to a server. This ensures people actually pay for your Robo (after a free trial period perhaps), and that its personality can be upgraded by updating only the server... just like all good hearted web applications.

To me, this is an extremely open-ended opportunity. What the heck the robot might do and say was probably the same question Microsoft engineers asked themselves before producing Bob and Clippy. But if its entertaining enough (and I imagine it could be... imagine a personality fed with live newsfeeds based on your verbal feedback and current location).

"Say Gord, did you know a hooker was killed on this very stretch of road back in '97? Rumor has it her cursed spirit still haunts the far right lane for the next 73 meters!"

"Thanks Robo. Good to know."

"My pleasure Gord! Say based on my GPS tracking of this vehicle you appear to be exceeding the speed limit. Perhaps you want to slow down."

"Shut up Robo."

"Does not compute. Say, Gord. Would you enjoy it if I read Pi to the nearest 100 digits?"

Gord you definitely get my vote for funniest comment! Thanks to everyone for your comments and ideas.