We’re sure we’re not the only ones who struggle with a pile of garbage on our coffee table as we just can’t be bothered to get up to throw stuff out while we’re watching our favorite shows. We need the trash can to come to us, and since we aren’t currently living in a time where robot butlers are widely available, the next best thing would be to own one of these Sociable Trash Box robots.
The Sociable Trash Box robots were created by researchers at the Interaction and Communication Design Lab at Aichi Prefecture’s Toyohashi University of Technology. The purpose of the robot trash can is to detect trash that has been discarded on the ground where people happen to be located through the use of its onboard camera and multiple sensors. Once the Sociable Trash Box robot detects garbage in an area with people, it moves around in an attempt to get people’s attention in order to get someone to place the garbage inside of it.
We’re sure the Sociable Trash Box robot seems like a good idea as it gets people to become proactive in keeping their immediate area clean, but we’re sure they will be looking forward to robots that actually pick up your trash for you.