What would you do if you saw a robot on the side of the road with its thumb in the air looking for a ride?
hitchBOT needs a ride.
Over the past three weeks if you were driving around Canada, you may have actually seen a tiny social-media–loving robot getting rides from strangers on its journey from Halifax to Victoria in Canada.
HitchBOT’s creators, a team of Ontario-based communications researchers studying the relationship between people and technology, say the last time the robot checked-in on Wednesday morning it was passing through Kelowna, B.C., on its way to the Open Space art center on Vancouver Island.
Hitchbot embarked on its journey on July 27 from Halifax and was headed over 3,5000 miles away to Victoria on the other side of the country.
hitchBOT on one of its hitchhiking escapades.
HitchBOT was conceived in 2013 to explore topics in human-robot-interaction and to test technologies in artificial intelligence and speech recognition and processing. It was developed as a sociable robot, so its creators encouraged drivers in Canada to pick hitchBOT up if they see it on the roadside this summer in a test to see if robots can trust humans instead of the other way around.
Since the robot is relying solely on hitchhiking to reach its destination, hitchBOT’s family does not know how long the cross-country trip will take. However, the robot is equipped with GPS and a 3G wireless connection, should it go astray.
HitchBOT fans can follow the robot’s journey online at www.hitchBOT.me and on social media: on Facebook, on Twitter @hitchBOT, and Instagram @hitchBOT.
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