Does The Buddy Robot Really Exist?

I invest in intelligence, every time.

RustedDucksDesign

Any way to send the video here? https://deepfakedetectors.com/

And we're just as intelligent! 😽

Jasper

I much preferred Kickstarter's original concept: I'm just flat out _giving_ people money because they've described a really interesting project and I'd like to help them pursue it. To this day, most of the campaigns I support are books and comics and music and other arts. I'll be happy if I eventually get my digital download, but I'm not even counting on it. I sure don't blame people for thinking that they're pre-ordering a record player that works underwater and can also charge an iPad while doing it, and getting upset when the whole project collapses. Kickstarter could be doing a lot more to dissuade people from thinking they're buying a product with an unusually-long delivery time.

Andy Ihnatko

This is my fundamental problem with “crowdsourcing”. When the pros work as hard as they do to suss-out a startup and still drill lotsa dry holes, maybe there’s a message there? It’s a lot freakin’ harder than it looks, on both sides. Personally, I have been on both sides of the table, entrepreneur and investor, more than once. One of the few deep truths I have taken from those experiences is that “civilians” are utterly ill-equipped to make any of the tough calls that have to be made funding a startup. And getting it funded the first time is the *beginning*. And I agree with Mr. Baird that this has the red flags of someone not disclosing all the information the Kickstarter Investor would have wanted disclosed. To borrow from A.C. Clarke, “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from a RIGGED DEMO!” Before anyone ever attempts such a course of action, pay for an hour of an attorney who is skilled in such matters, and let her scare the wholly bejeezis outa you.

Mike O'Dell

Nonetheless, their website at www.bluefrogrobotics.com is interesting..

Michael A Klaene

You may never get a Buddy, but you've got a lot of YouTube buddies!

Rick Lett

I think your speculation that this was a trial balloon, in hopes of interesting venture capitalists, is probably right on the money. I had an experience a few years ago with a Kickstarter campaign for a drone called AirDog that promised features that were advanced for the time. They raised $1,368,177. Then they missed their shipping deadline… And missed it again… And again… You get the idea. To be fair, they eventually did deliver the product, but about 2 1/2 years late. The point of bringing it up is this: later, in interviews with the company’s principals, it came out that they had never expected they'd be able to deliver the promised orders for the amount of money they’d raised. Instead, they had hoped that the Kickstarter campaign results would show investors that they had a potential market. Investment money would roll in, and they'd be able to fulfill their promises. Unfortunately, it didn't work out that way... hence the extremely late deliveries. I suspect that, as you guessed, Blue Frog was playing a similar game. They had to have have known they couldn't develop and manufacture such a sophisticated product for $675,000, but they hoped to attract investors. Seems as if that didn't happen, so they came back and begged for more crowdfunding. With their track record, I wouldn’t trust them to deliver anything remotely like that faked demo (which I’m guessing was radio-controlled).