Retail robots on the move

Abstract

Commercial robots are an ever-increasing presence on the retail market. As these new machines walk, hop, slither, and roll their way into our homes, they leave a trail of questions about how their presence will ultimately alter our world. Will robots deliver the long-promised increase in leisure or simply vacuum the house while we continue that battle to answer email? Will they make our kids smarter according to existing measures or change how we define the world and life itself in unforeseeable ways?