Low-Rent Robot Police On the Sniff in Silicon Valley

Model K10 is better in open spaces, K5 in close quarters/ Photo: Knightscope
Via the International Business Times:

Silicon Valley startup Knightscope has created robots that can replace policemen – and cost just $6.25 (£3.80) an hour to rent.

The robots, which are 1.50 metres (59.06 inches) tall and weigh 136 kilos (about 21 stone), are able to collect real time data and utilise predictive analytics to provide a commanding but friendly physical presence…

“Imagine a friend that can see, hear, feel and smell; that would tirelessly watch over your neighbourhood, keep your loved ones safe and put a smile on anyone walking by your business”, Knightscope said when introducing the robots during the recent Plug and Play Winter Expo in Sunnyvale.

Because there's nothing quite a friendly as unrelenting surveillance and data gathering on people who haven't done anything…you know, just in case.

I think we might feel better if it looked less like a derma-peeled Dalek and more like Almost Human's Michael Ealy (or even Karl Urban, IYKWIMAITYD).

h/t: Fark