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Humanoid Robots Spotted In Homes Performing Household Chores

It's been a long time for science fiction fans to wait, but humanoid robots are finally starting to find their way into our homes, performing useful tasks.


(Robots Spotted In Homes Performing Household Chores)

One of the earliest depictions of a humanoid robot doing general chores in the home was the automatic valet from Looking Forward: A Dream of the United States of the Americas in 1999, by Arthur Bird, published in 1899:

Some years ago the need of a machine which would dress persons on arising from bed, make their toilet and prepare them for breakfast, or a stroll on the street, was generally felt.

Several attempts were made to supply this want, but nothing was perfected until M. Pantalon announced the completion of his automatic valet. This machine was shaped very much like an ordinary man, except that it was built on an absolutely square plan. There were two upholstered legs, on which reposed a heavy, square chest, and above the chest was the head, also square and resembling a block.

The machinery was directly in the center of the body-chest, controlling the movement of the legs and arms, the latter being round, four jointed and twenty-seven inches long. Instead of a face, the head bore a dial, on which the hour was depicted. The whole valet was wound up by a small crank in the back. If a man wished to be aroused, at, let it be said, 8 o’clock in the morning, he adjusted the alarm button on a small dial on the face of the large clock at that hour.


(Automatic Valet from 'Looking Forward' by Arthur Bird)

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