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in GREG;GMROB

November 17, 1977

TO:    Prof. Marvin Minsky
FROM:  George G. Dodd
RE:    Detroit Visitation of the Quasar Robot

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The Quasar Robot known as Sam Snugglegear was brought to Detroit by
Hughes & Hatcher, a mens clothing store.  Lothar Rossol, John Joyce and
I, all of whom have been actively involved in computer systems since
the mid 1960's visited one of the stores where the Robot was on
display.  I also had an opportunity to record a T.V. newscast taken at
an earlier visit to another store and have on file a tape recording of
that newscast.  A copy of the newscast is attached and I will make some
observations on it later in this report.

The Quasar Robot is controlled by two men, one of whom has a satchel
containing a number of buttons or switches used to control the Robot's
motions.  Another man operated the voice input and output system by
means of remote control radio.  The man controlling the Robot's motions
stayed within a close proximity of the Robot, i.e., within about 15
feet but tried to remain in the background.  The man who handled the
voice system hid in the men's changing room in the clothing store and
then later in a supply room.  However, he was observed talking into a
microphone with an antenna dangling from his satchel onto the floor.

The Robot is slightly over 5 feet high and operates on wheels.  One of
the wheels jammed once and had to be helped along by a third person who
walked with the Robot and guided it as it moved down the aisle and into
the store.  It is conical shaped with a large globe for a head.  There
are no input sensors in the robot except for the voice input microphone
going to the remote control man.  This was verified when one of the men
told people to get out of the way when it had to move.

The hands are made out of hard wood or plastic slightly larger than
human hands and have a hinged large thumb.  The only motion that the
arms went through was a rotary vertical motion from the shoulder.
There is no other motion in the elbow or wrist.  The hands did not open
or close. 

I am attaching a copy of the advertisement.  In the store the robot did
not clean the house or walk the dog or serve drinks.  All it did was
stand there, move around a little bit, wave its arms and talk.

In a careful analysis of the transcript you will notice a slurring of
words.  It is obviously human speech coming out of the robot although
it is garbled somewhat to make it sound more robotish.  However, some
of the speech patterns could not be affected by any voice synthesizers
that are on the market today.  Its voice does not talk in a monotone
when it speaks softly; only when it speaks loudly.  Apparently it
saturates the amplifying circuits to give it a raspy monotone.  The
T.V. newscast mentions a sophisticated computer system, and its ability
to speak all earth languages except Greek.  We did not have an
opportunity to test this.

It is obvious from the people who were watching him that many thought
he was genuine.  One lady wanted to know where could she buy one and
she would like to have one now.  I pointed out to other people that
there were men controlling it, they didn't believe me.

You will observe in the T.V. transcript that this is available now for
$50,000 and will be available soon for $4,000.  However, we could not
get any more details.

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November 12, 1977
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6:00 p.m. & 11:00 p.m. Newscast, WJBK

Nancy Macaulay:
  Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be totally cared for --
have someone vacuum your house for you, take out the trash, dazzle you
with wonderful conversation and provide tender loving care.  Well for
$50,000 its yours.  Sam Snugglegear was built eight years ago as a
promotional gimic.  He can speak all earth languages except Greek,
thanks to his sophisticated computer system.  He can perform many
domestic tasks and is not the least bit shy. 

Sam:  I have a question for you.

N.M.: O.K. What is your question Sam?

Sam:  ARe you free this evening?

N.M.: (laughter) We can talk about that later, I want you to ans...

Sam:  (interupting). How about some din din for you after I get finished.

N.M.:  A wise guy robot (laughter).  Sam, are there going to be others
like you put in production in the near future?

Sam (whisper) I wanta tell you a secret.

N.M.:  What is it Sam?

Sam:  Comere, I wanta tell you a secret.

N.M.: What is it Sam?

Sam:  I love you.

N.M.:  (laughter) Do you do dishes?

Sam:  I don't do windows -- I don't do dishes.  However, I don't take
Tursday off either.

N.M.:  As you can see, Sam is strictly an entertainment and task
oriented robot and you'll be able to buy a less expensive model like
him for $4,000 very soon.  Paramedic robots are also being built which
are designed to work with mentally and physically handicapped children,
because, according to Sam, kids relate better to robots than adults.

Nancy Macaulay, TV2 News, Noviβ