In the near future, an autonomous robotic wheelchair could take its user around the house with just a single vocal command. Currently being developed by MIT, the wheelchair is designed to learn on its own by experience, kind of like how humans do. Since it's supposed to respond to spoken commands and people speak differently, the aim is to personalize each wheelchair for its user.
To make the it work, the wheelchair has to be taken on a tour of the place, identifying each important landmark vocally like the kitchen or the bathroom. The wheelchair prototype is currently using a WiFi system that's responsible for making maps of the location. One of the further developments planned for the chair is mechanical arms that could be used to pick up and move objects. After the preliminary tests on MIT campus were through, the wheelchair is now on a trial run in a nursing home.
