Update: Joggobot on Channel 10’s Scope TV program:

Update: Joggobot in New Scientist, Discovery, MSN, Daily Mail… (full list)

Update: Joggobot on SBS World News Australia:

Update: Joggobot in The Age, Australia’s major newspaper, including video:

Update: TV coverage on ABC’s Catalyst science show (transcript):

 

We believe that in the future, exertion activities will become a new experience, involving interactions with autonomous embodied systems. Our vision is Joggobot, an autonomous flying quadcopter that exemplifies our thinking about the combination of robotics and physical exercise.

We use Joggobot to ask the question how (and if) robots should support us when exercising. As such, Joggobot helps us to understand the interactions between a person and a robot. Our Joggobot is able to track the position of the jogger via an built-in camera and tag detection software. This software turns the previously human-controlled quadcopter into an autonomous flying robot that reacts to the jogger’s actions. We ask questions such as “Should the robot be a pacemaker for the jogger? If so, can this be motivating? Or should the Joggobot be more like a dog, reacting to the jogger like a pet companion? How does this affect the interaction, and in particular, the exercise experience for the jogger? Will joggers run faster or longer because of the robot? And, maybe more importantly, will the jog be more engaging?”

We believe robots have been so far mainly investigated from a perspective where they do tasks for us we do not want to do: vacuuming floors, going into war zones, and cleaning up nuclear power plants.With Joggobot, we want to propose the idea of robots as companions for physical activity. We believe this is a promising approach, as both robots and exercise are embodied, by which we mean they are both heavily body-focused. We think that this match in body-focus can lead to more engaging experiences. For example, compare Joggobot to running with one of the many mobile phone apps that support joggers. Such an app does not know about the shape and size of the phone (its “body”), nor does the shape and size of the mobile phone knows (or does) anything about the app or the exercise. Therefore the app is not very body-focused or embodied. Jogging on the other hand is all about the body. And so is Joggobot: it’s a physical device that acts and reacts to its environment and the jogger. Both the Joggobot and the jogger are affected by environmental conditions such as wind. Both’s performance is affected by rain. Both get “tired” (Joggobot’s speed diminishes with low battery) and with both you can hear if they invest physical effort: the jogger puffs, the Joggobot whirrs. We believe the match in focus on the body can facilitate more engaging experiences, for example joggers might “relate” more to Joggobot because it has a body, they might even develop empathy because both have a body-focused experience. This is important, as we know from sports research that social factors are key when it comes to exercising.

We hope our project will enhance our understanding of why we play (and hence why we jog and therefore why we do not jog enough), further the experience of jogging and promote the consideration of robots supporting exertion activities.

In the Exertion Games Lab, we investigate the intersection between technology, the body and play, we call this coming together Exertion Games. Joggobot is a form of an exertion game, as jogging is play (we are not jogging to get from A to B, but for the experience of jogging), and the Joggobot represents technology that is part of that experience. Joggobot as well as all of our other exertion games are inspirational pieces to inspire industry of what the future can and should be like in 10 years time.

Joggobot by Eberhard Gräther and Florian ‘Floyd’ Mueller, with help from Wouter Walmink, Chad Toprak, Josh Platt, Conor O’Kane, Jennifer Lade, Jonathan Duckworth, Wendy Ju and Wolfgang Gräther. Video by Eric Dittloff.

 

Publications

Graether, E., Mueller, F. 2012. Joggobot: A Flying Companion as Flying Companion. CHI 2012. Interactivity.

Mueller, F., Wilde, D., Toprak, C., Graether, E., Berthouze, N. 2012. Future User Research for Exertion Games. CHI 2012. Workshop User Research in Games.

Media Kit

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Media Coverage

Wired: http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2012-06/06/joggobot

Daily Mail UK: Jog human The robot companion flies just ahead runners track

Discovery: http://news.discovery.com/tech/joggobot-120605.html

SBS (World News Australia): Jogging robot sets the pace

IEEE Spectrum: http://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/diy/get-off-the-couch-and-exercise-with-joggobot

Forbes: http://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2012/06/07/joggobot-the-companion-drone-that-makes-you-run-faster-longer-harder/

Ubergizmo: http://www.ubergizmo.com/2012/06/the-joggobot-is-an-ar-drone-that-keeps-you-company-while-you-jog/

Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/06/07/go-jogging-with-a-helicopter_n_1576903.html

Gizmag: http://www.gizmag.com/joggobot-autonomous-quadrocopter-running-partner/22899/

Stride Nation: http://www.stridenation.com/2012/6/15/3088735/joggobot-running-helicopter

Dvice: http://dvice.com/archives/2012/06/meet-your-quad.php

The week: http://theweek.com/article/index/228873/joggobot-the-robotic-jogging-companion

Robot Companions: http://www.robotcompanions.eu/blog/2012/07/racing-with-robots/

PopSci (Australian Popular Science): http://www.popsci.com.au/technology/robots/video-motivating-robot-follows-you-on-your-morning-run

MSN: http://www.futureoftech.msnbc.msn.com/technology/futureoftech/flying-robot-jogger-wont-let-you-run-alone-812566#

Slate: http://www.mobilemag.com/2012/06/05/joggobot-your-flying-robot-running-friend-video/

Mobile Magazine: http://www.mobilemag.com/2012/06/05/joggobot-your-flying-robot-running-friend-video/

The Atlantic Cities: http://www.theatlanticcities.com/technology/2012/06/future-we-will-jog-robot-companions-maybe/2191/

YouTube (VSauce2): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9LLEwJKg_U

Engadget (in German): http://de.engadget.com/2012/06/03/joggobot-parrot-ar-drone-gibt-beim-laufen-den-takt-vor-video/

DIY Drones: http://diydrones.com/profiles/blogs/follow-me-with-parrot-ar-drone-and-color-tracking

CBC (Canada): http://www.cbc.ca/news/yourcommunity/2012/06/are-jogging-robots-and-diet-goggles-the-future-of-weight-loss.html

Wealth Wire: http://www.wealthwire.com/news/health/3300?r=1

Running Magazine: http://runningmagazine.ca/2012/06/sections/news/robot-aims-to-motivate-runners/

Technabob: http://technabob.com/blog/2012/06/05/joggobot-jogging-quadrotor/

Runners World: http://rwdaily.runnersworld.com/2012/06/a-drone-for-joggers.html

Daily News Agency (Japan): http://dailynewsagency.com/2012/06/06/joggobot/

Cult of Mac: http://www.cultofmac.com/171528/this-flying-robot-is-the-most-awesomely-nerdy-way-to-get-back-into-shape-video/

Competitor: http://running.competitor.com/2012/06/news/joggobot-drones-invented-to-track-runners_53456

Design Boom: http://www.designboom.com/weblog/cat/16/view/21587/joggobot-flying-robotic-running-companion.html

Brisbane Times: http://media.brisbanetimes.com.au/technology/tech-talk/inventions-the-joggobot-3341981.html

Brisbane Times (Video): http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/technology/sci-tech/sure-he-was-cute-but-did-r2d2-give-you-personal-training-20120602-1zotg.html

Coolest Gadgets: http://www.coolest-gadgets.com/20120608/joggobot-spurs-runs/

The Register: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/06/18/bot_jogging_buddy/

WA Today: http://www.watoday.com.au/technology/sci-tech/flying-robot-set-to-spur-on-flying-feet-20120602-1zohe.html

Robots.net: http://robots.net/article/3401.html

I Programmer: You’re never alone with a Joggobot Quadrotor

New Scientist: Go for a jog with a helicopter drone

The Age: Flying robot set to spur on flying feet (incl. video)

Digital trends: Meet Joggobot, the flying robot that sets your jogging pace

Krone: Salzburger Student erfindet fliegenden Jogging-Trainer

ABC: ABC Catalyst

Heritage Hill Dandenong: Get Active – with games design student Chad Toprak

Futurezone: Joggobot: Laufen mit der Flugdrohne

Firstpost: Joggobot / Exertion Games Lab – RMIT University

Jogging online: Fliegender Jogging-Trainer

Sys-Con Media: http://www.sys-con.com/node/2298629

ThanhNien (Vietnamese): http://www.thanhnien.com.vn/pages/20120623/chay-cung-robot-bay.aspx

Sportnext (Dutch): http://www.sportnext.nl/berichten/20120618_nooit_meer_alleen_hardlopen_met_de_joggobot

Canberra Times: http://www.canberratimes.com.au/technology/sci-tech/sure-he-was-cute-but-did-r2d2-give-you-personal-training-20120602-1zotg.html

The Sunday Age: “Sure he was cute, but did R2-D2 give you personal training?”:



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