Joggobot could get your kids off the couch and into running this summer
If you’re a parent who’s worried about your kids becoming couch potatoes this summer and playing nothing but video games, get them outside running around with JOGGOBOT, an aerial drone which follows your kids everywhere they go.
“Soon drones will not only be able to kill you with impunity but also harass you about getting into shape.” – journalist Charles Homans
Big brother implications aside, there’s data that shows users who run with Joggobot chasing them will run farther, longer and faster. The JoggoBot is based on a a quad rotor ARDrone by Parrot, which has been modified to fly autonomously according to the colors it picks up with the on board camera.
But the aerial drone doesn’t follow the runner, it flies ahead of it. ““People might feel chased if the Joggobot was behind them,” says researcher Eberhard Grather. And so, thanks to a built-in camera, that picks up on the unique colors of a t-shirt that comes with it, the drone flies in front of you and almost cheers you on to keep up with it. And since it’s monitoring your pace, it’s smart enough to slow down when you get tired or even change direction.
It’s flies in two modes, companion, making it the ideal jogging partner, and coach mode, giving you more challenging paces to follow. Currently, though, Joggobot only has a twenty minute flying time, barely enough to break a sweat. But the makers promise that they’re working on ways to extend the battery life for longer workouts.
Hat Tip – Forbes
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