Privacy of Home Robotic Data

Thoughful piece that follows up on the use of home robots building models of homes, and potential  sharing of that data.     More broadly we will see this kind of data also being gathered by AR systems as well, for example Google's Project Tango.   In that case not robotic, but human 'scanning'.

Interview: iRobot CEO Colin Angle on Data Privacy and Robots in the Home    By Evan Ackerman   in IEEE Spectrum

About a month ago, iRobot CEO Colin Angle mentioned something about sharing Roomba mapping data in an interview with Reuters. It got turned into a data privacy kerfuffle in a way that iRobot did not intend and (probably) did not deserve, as evidenced by their immediate clarification that iRobot will not sell your data or share it without your consent .... 

Data privacy is important, of course, especially for devices that live in your home with you. But as robots get more capable, the amount of data that they collect will increase, and sharing that data in a useful, thoughtful, and considerate way could make smart homes way smarter. To understand how iRobot is going to make this happen, we spoke with Angle about keeping your data safe, integrating robots with the future smart home, and robots that can get you a beer.  ... " 

Future of the Home Robot

In Wired: Colin Angle of iRobot on the future of the Roomba.  Recognizing things and making maps of our world.  Continue to be interested in how robotics will work with us in our day to day lives.    And how an internet of things will connect with them.

Google and Robotics: iRobots view

In Mashable:  Notably Google did not buy probably the best known MIT robotics spin off: iRobot. What is iRobot's take on that?  " ... Why iRobot's CEO Welcomes Our New Google Robot Overlords ... If you were a founder in any industry where Google just snapped up eight of your competitors, and you wanted to remain in that business, you might expect to feel a little nervous. Not Colin Angle. ... 
Angle (pictured above) is the founder and CEO of iRobot, the company that makes the Roomba autonomous vacuum cleaner, its cousin the Scoomba, and many more besides. And he is so far beyond thrilled that Google is showing such an interest in the market, he's actively rooting for the big guys.... "