Case Study Honda’s ASiMO
Meet ASIMO! He is 4 feet tall, with a pleasant childish voice, and the ability to
recognize and interact with people; however, ASIMO is no child. He is the
humanoid robot “brainchild” of scientists at Honda. ASIMO’s technology includes
two camera eyes to map its environment and recognize unique faces. Its body
construction is so humanlike that it can run at 3.5 mph, toss a ball to play with a
child, and use its opposable thumbs to open a bottle and serve you a cold drink.
ASIMO is the perfect household companion.
Honda has not yet made ASIMO available to purchase for home use but it is only
a matter of time until families can have their own humanoid robot. But not
everyone is interested. Consumers are a bit nervous about a robot serving them
meals or sitting down and telling them the news of the day. Why? Perhaps it is
Hollywood’s influence on our perception of robots. It might not be the sweet
WALLE that comes to mind when we think about robots, but the Terminator or
another threatening machine.
If consumers are not ready for ASIMO, perhaps they are ready for some of its
features. Facial Recognition Technology (FRT), the ability for a computer to
“read” your face, is seeing strong development and application. According to
some analysts, the FRT market is expected to grow from $1.92 billion to $6.5
billion within the next 5 years.
Advertisers and big brands are taking notice of FRT. Imagine a billboard in a mall
that advertises Abercrombie to a teen girl and Target to a busy mom. Immersive
Labs is one company that has developed digital billboards that measure the age
range, gender, and even attention level of a passerby to deliver a tailored ad.
According to researchers, FRT can do more than read your face and estimate
general physical characteristics. It can map out a biometric profile that is as
unique as your fingerprint. Red Pepper is a company that uses this advanced
technology to develop Facedeals, a smartphone app that provides personalized
offers to consumers. Here’s how it works. You download the app, walk into a
store with a Facedeals camera, and are recognized. Facedeals interfaces with
your Facebook information, analyzing your content for favorite brands,
relationship status, places visited, and other information. Then, Facedeals
presents you with a personalized offer.
The marketing applications for FRT are numerous. Google is considering letting
individuals use a body motion, perhaps a “wink” or “eyebrow movement,” as their
FRT password. Forbes.com has unveiled an app where your webcam watches
your facial responses when you view ads to learn what products and ads you like
and dislike.
Many brands know one key to successful marketing is to offer the right product to
the right consumer at the right time. With FRT, marketers can achieve this goal at
a whole new level.
Based on the reading pls answer the following questions;
1. Describe who are the most likely market segments for ASIMO using at least one or two demographic or lifestyle and subculture segmentation bases.
2.Relate the 4 types of relationships with products from Role Theory to the relationship people might have with Asimo
3.What needs in Maslow hierarchy could Asimo satisfy and why?
4.Give an example from of how home robots are related to pop culture
5.how would you and your family or friends want to use Asimo in your house?
