The Epoch Times
New England
October 11 – 17, 2007
Study Finds Emotional Attachment
Between Human and Roomba Robot
ATLANTA (AP)—People give
them nicknames, worry when they
signal for help and sometimes even
treat them like trusted pets.
A newly released Georgia Tech
study shows that some Roomba
owners become deeply attached to
the robotic vacuums and suggests
there’s a measure of public readiness to accept additional robots in
the house—even flawed ones.
“They’re more willing to work
with a robot that does have issues
because they really, really like it,’’
said Beki Grinter, an associate
professor at the school’s College
of Computing. “It sort of begins to
address more concerns: If we can
design things that are somewhat
emotionally engaging, it doesn’t
have to be as reliable.’’
Grinter decided to study the
devices after she saw online pictures of people dressing up their
Roombas, disc-shaped, self-directed vacuums made by iRobot
Corp., which is based in Burlington, Mass.
“This sort of notion that someone would dress a vacuum cleaner
seemed strange,’’ she said. “A lot
more was going on.’’
More than 2 million of the robots have been sold, although
some early versions suffered motor
failures and other problems after
intensive use. The company says
its latest model—the fifth generation—has been “reinvented’’ for
improved performance.
Grinter enlisted Ph.D. student Ja Young Sung, who studies
“emotional design’’—the theory
that certain types of design can
influence consumers to become
emotionally attached.
First, Sung Young monitored
an online forum devoted to Roombas, which revealed people who
named them and traveled with
them and one owner who introduced the machine to his parents.
Others reported their efforts to
“Roomba-ize’’ their homes so the
robot can roam the floors more
easily. Some bought new rugs,
pre-cleaned the floors to clear the
robot’s route and purchased new
refrigerators with a higher clearance so their machines could clean
under them easier.
“I was blown away,’’ said
Young Sung. “Some Roombas
break a lot, they still have functional problems. But people are
willing to make that effort because
they love their robot enough.’’
Next she studied 30 committed
Roomba users and found that 21
company acted quickly to pull the
toys off the market after weeks of
lead paint testing by KB and the
Consumer Product Safety Commission.
In all, the commission says
more than a half-million products
were recalled earlier this month
because they contain dangerous
levels of lead. The list includes
coin-shaped “Pirates of the Caribbean’’ flashlights and soft, textured Baby Einstein blocks.
New England: More
Smog Days in Summer
BOSTON (AP)—This past
summer was a little smoggier
than last year, but air quality in
New England continues to improve over time.
Environmental Protection
Agency officials say the region
experienced 26 days between
May and September where ozone
monitors registered concentrations considered unhealthy.
That’s compared with 16 days
in 2006 during the same months.
Most of the unhealthy days
this year, 20, were recorded in
www.irobot.com
had named their robots. Another
16 referred to the robot as “he,’’
arbitrarily assigning the robot a
gender.
The third phase of the study,
presented last week at the Ubiquitous Computing Conference
in Austria, focused on more traditional users. Polling 379 U.S.
“We decided that it does make
sense to control your own destiny
even if it means lower margins,’’ he
said.
That was one of many decisions
Ethan Allen executives made in the
face of global and national competition. The company as reinvented
Ground Broken for Bush
Library at University of
New England
BIDDEFORD, Maine (AP)—
The University of New England
broke ground last week for a
new building and library named
in honor of former President
George H.W. Bush and his wife,
Barbara.
The three-story George and
Barbara Bush Center will feature a student cafe, administrative offices and the Bush Legacy
Library, which will chronicle
the Maine history of the 41st
president and his wife.
The Bush family compound
is located at Walker’s Point in
nearby Kennebunkport, and
Bush has spent part of every
year of his life in Maine except
during World War II, when
he was deployed in the Pacific
Ocean. His time spent golfing
and fishing off the Maine coast
in his speedboat are well-documented.
The library will be linked to
the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library and Bush School of
Government and Public Serv-
More Chinese-Made
Products Recalled for
High Levels of Lead
PITTSFIELD, Mass. (AP)—
The latest recall of Chinese-made
products includes thousands of
wooden toys imported and sold by
Pittsfield-based KB Toys.
The items — including wagons
and learning blocks — were manufactured in China and sold at KB
Toy stores nationwide between
August 2005 to September 2007.
Senior vice president of human resources Gerry Murray
tells the Berkshire Eagle that the
users, it found that some would
pre-clean their homes before using
the machine, and that it seemed to
make males more excited about
the chore of vacuuming.
“The female of the house says,
‘You take care of it—it’s your
toy,’’’ said Young Sung.
And that could have profound
implications for the future of vacuuming.
“Forty years of women’s liberation hasn’t done much for the redistribution of vacuuming labor,’’
said Grinter.
“But robotics—that has promise.’’
Ethan Allen Takes Different Approach
to Stay Competitive in Global Economy
MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP)—Instead of shipping all its manufacturing overseas, the Ethan Allen
furniture company opted to stay
in the United States and Vermont
even if it means smaller profits,
CEO Farooq Kathwari told Vermont manufacturers.
A3
ice at Texas A&M University to
offer academic programming,
shared speakers and other opportunities for UNE students
and faculty as well as Maine
residents.
The $5 million building is
scheduled to open late next
summer.
“When you consider how
much Maine means to George
H.W. Bush, it’s hard to believe
there isn’t something which
bears his name in the state to
honor him,’’ said UNE Provost
Jacque Carter.
Bush talked during the ceremony about his affinity for
the state, with Gen. Brent
Scowcroft, the U.S. national
security adviser during Bush’s
presidency, giving the keynote
address.
Former Maine Gov. John
McKernan attended the ceremony, as did Paul Celucci,
a former U.S. ambassador to
Canada and Massachusetts
governor.
itself many times to survive, he
said.
The 75-year-old furniture maker
went from a manufacturer to a retailer and marketer to an interior
design company—Ethan Allen Interiors Inc., he said.
“Either you have to be, in this
age of extremes, mass merchant or
you have to be a very specialized retailer,’’ he said.
The substantive transformation
started in the 1980s, when Ethan
Allen decided “reinvention was
necessary and that change can create an opportunity and has to be
managed,’’ said Kathwari, who
has been president of the company
since 1985, and chairman and chief
executive officer since 1988.
The reinvention has continued,
with the company changing its style,
enhancing its products, and dropping its number of manufacturing
plants from 29 to 21 and now 9 including two in Vermont in Beecher
Falls and Orleans.
“Because to compete internationally we had to have plants in the
S
L
best places,’’ he said.
To survive in the global economy, the best strategy for U.S. manufacturers, who are not competing
on equal terms with the lower tax
rates, labor costs, and different
standards of countries, is to add
quality, rather than try to compete
by making cheaper products, he
said. “Make it better,’’ he said.
At the event attended by about
130 business members and state
officials, including Vermont’s governor, Kathwari said he was concerned about young people leaving
the state, and high electricity rates.
As one of a limited number of
manufacturers with 60 percent of
its production in the U.S., he said
the company chooses to manufacture in Vermont because of the
good labor force, its investments,
the history and the vicinity to raw
materials.
The Vermont plants had until recently been operating at 32 hours a
week, “a dangerous thing for us,’’
he said. It’s now back to 40 hours
a week.
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Massachusetts.
Maine had eight unhealthy
ozone days this summer, compared to two in 2006.
Officials say the increase in the
number of days with unhealthy
air is related to the increase in
the number of hot days this year.
Over the long-term New
England has experienced a decreasing number of unhealthy
ozone days. In 1983, New
England had 90 unhealthy days,
compared with 26 this summer.
Maple Tree on Frost
Farm Goes Down
With Poetry Reading
DERRY, N.H. (AP)—An
unusual tree got an unusual
farewell
After standing for generations,
a maple tree on the Robert Frost
Farm in Derry was taken down.
Frost Farm trustees said the tree
was so diseased it posed a safety
hazard and had to be removed. It
was the last of six original maple
trees planted on the property
where Frost lived.
A crowd of about 100 writers,
historians and Frost relatives
gathered for a poetry reading
before the removal.
The tree is said to have inspired
some of Frost’s poems, including
“Tree at My Window.’’
Wood from the tree was
distributed to artisans, who have
plans to craft it into walking
sticks, bowls, furniture and other
items. Other remnants were to be
distributed to wood-fired power
plants and a local garden club.
A new tree will be planted at the
farm in the spring.
Concord Is Great for
Retiree Set, Says Magazine
CONCORD, N.H. (AP)—Concord has landed on a national
magazine’s ranking of top retirement spots in the nation.
U.S. News and World Report—better known for its college
rankings—came out earlier this
month with a top-ten list for the
retirement set.
Concord is the only New
England community on the list.
The magazine cited Concord’s
chummy neighborhood feel, New
Hampshire’s availability of hik-
ing and skiing trails, and abundance of volunteer opportunities, like working on candidates’
primary campaigns. It also cited
Concord’s relative proximity to
Boston and Portland, Maine, as
advantages.
The other top retirement towns
on the list were: Bozeman, Mont.,
Fayetteville, Ark., Hillsboro,
Ore., Lawrence, Kan., Peachtree
City, Ga., Prescott, Ariz., San
Francisco, Calif., Smyrna, Tenn.,
and Venice, Fla.
Ford, MIT to Develop
New Powertrain, Fuel and
Energy Technologies
DEARBORN, Mich. (AP)—
Ford Motor Co. and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
are forming an energy research
partnership to develop new engine
and transmission, fuel and energy
technologies.
Ford said in a statement Monday that it and MIT have a long
history of working together. The
automaker would become the first
sustaining member of the MIT
Energy Initiative. The initiative
was established in November to
address global energy issues.
“The expansion of the FordMIT Alliance will pair innovators
at Ford and MIT to help meet the
world’s energy challenges,’’ MIT
President Susan Hockfield said in
the statement provided by Ford.
Ford, which committed to the
alliance for five years, will sponsor
two energy fellowships at MIT, the
statement said.
Ford spokesman Said Deep
would not say how much Ford is
paying MIT for the alliance and
the fellowships, but called the
amount “substantial.’’
He said MIT could decide to
allow other automakers to join the
alliance, which already includes
other companies.