Usually when folks think of robots, said robots are thought of in very simple terms; terms like “what does it do” and “what kind of effect does it have on life”, which sometimes have some rather scary connotations. We think about robots trained to take jobs from regular people, or robots trained to even take the lives of regular people. From the toothpaste tube cap-screwing arm that took Mr. Bucket's job at the toothpaste factory, to Skynet's legions of grinning, gun-toting monsters, we think of robots as things that do things, and commonly, not necessarily good things. But Jibo offers something different; a robot that serves as a social companion.

Jibo is a product of roboticist Cynthia Breazeal, who works at MIT (News - Alert)'s Media Lab and is commonly recognized as a pioneer in the field of social robotics. Jibo is something of a departure from Breazeal's earlier work, at last report, as Jibo wasn't meant for schools or hospitals or research purposes, but rather as a means to be a companion from home. Indeed, Breazeal describes Jibo as likely to become “part of the family.”

During a demonstration, Breazeal showed Jibo cheerfully introducing itself to a crowd of onlookers, talking excitedly about itself in a voice that was reportedly a bit on the robotic side, though that was a development not overly surprising given Jibo's status as an actual robot. But Jibo also comes with a set of apps known as “skills” that allow Jibo to take on different roles. For instance, one skill might allow Jibo to serve as a cameraman at family functions or parties, slipping in and among crowds to take pictures, allowing everyone to be in the picture. Another skill might let Jibo serve as a personal assistant, telling a household about parts of its schedules, and announcing that one daughter is late for tennis practice, while the father in the house has a meeting across town at three, or anything similar.

But what's particularly interesting is the idea of Jibo as storyteller, engaging with children in a way that really hasn't been seen much outside of specialized dolls like Teddy Ruxpin and the like, augmenting its stories with sound effects and simulated emotion better than the cassette-driven tales of Teddy Ruxpin could ever do. Those interested in picking up a Jibo, however, will get the chance to do so, as Jibo is currently running a crowd funding effort on Indiegogo, which has long surpassed its goal despite opening only yesterday. The effort had a target of $100,000 when it started, but now sits at $390,360 raised as of this writing.

It's easy to be concerned about what robots can take away, and to be so concerned about it that we forget that robots have a potential to give in every bit as great a measure as it can take. We worry about a robot taking our jobs, but we don't consider how a robot can do our largely pointless drudge work around the house, those things that need to be done but are seldom fulfilling for long. While the idea of robots taking jobs away from people is a point to be concerned about (if robots do all the jobs that used to pay, then how will people buy things, and how will those things robots make be purchased?) it's not a reason to stick our collective head in the sand and hope the robots go away. There's a lot of potential in robotics, and Jibo is showing us how much.