In this particular case we use the Aibo as a real world interface to our new Code Mentor browser plug-in that will become available in the forthcoming Dolphin 6 release.
Code Mentor
The Code Mentor is based (as is the existing Dolphin Refactoring Browser) on the SmallLint package by John Brant and Don Roberts of Refactory Inc. As one browses code in the new Hierarchy or System browsers, the mentor continuously evaluates the quality of the code in the background. When it finds that certain Lint checks have been violated it gives a report advising the programmer of the problem(s)....
... We did have some problems with Timo's speech recognition, caused by the room being rather noisy as it opened onto the main OOPSLA exhibition hall. In a quiet room the Aibo had been quite reliable at interpreting Blair's comments and requests.
While this "programmer's best friend" is not an altogether serious proposition with the limitations of the current technology, one can see how such robotic mentoring might become truly useful in the not too distant future. If nothing else, we've found it can offer a certain amount of light relief for the caffeine crazed programmer hell bent on bashing out just one more class before midnight.
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