Analysis Of The Alpha By Ubtech

1059 Words3 Pages

The Alpha by UbTech is a robot that was created to be more than just a robot. The device dances, tells stories, does workout exercises, Kung Fu, somersaults, plays soccer, and much more just with the push of a button ("Ubtech-Alpha 1S robot", 2016). Although the design of robot looks somewhat aesthetically pleasing due to its contour bias and effect of color, the design of the app is not good. It lacks the 80/20 rule and accessibility when it comes to language, the robot itself violated the expectancy of the user.

The audience of the Alpha 1 are families with children, parents tend to favor technologies with a contour bias: objects without sharp angles or points (Lidwell, Holden, & Butler, 2015). A parent would not allow their children to …show more content…

According to Milford Wolpoff, a paleoanthropology professor at the University of Michigan, it is because evolution left us with scars. Even though we have evolved to accommodate the new way of living, we’re left we defects. For example, people with bad backs cannot carry certain things. Robots are designed to be able to do the things humans cannot do, or sometimes things we can do but at a better pace than we would. Wolpoff believes that humans do not have the necessary number of vertebrae to support the curves of our spine. Robots do not need vertebrae’s, they’re a better model that we ever could be (Moore, …show more content…

While testing out these features during the evaluation process, the robot was unable to fully do what it was meant to do. Watching it trying to play soccer was like watching a toddler try to walk. It failed, every time it kicked it fell. When it tried Yoga, you couldn’t tell which Yoga movies it was doing. When the robot told stories, it all came out a monotone voice that would bore anyone listening to it. Expectancy Violation Theory suggests that humans have expectancies about others before interaction (Spence, Westerman, Edwards, & Edwards, 2014). Alpha 1 is a perfect example of that because it did not do what was of expected of it, it failed at everything it was supposed to do. Are robots really a better model for people if they cannot meet our expectations? There are things that we as humans can do that cannot be

Open Document