Emoshape's release of the EmoSPARK artificial intelligence (AI) home console had been proceeding pretty well at last report. Having nearly reached its targets on IndieGogo—and pulling better than half the contributions to same from the United States—the United Kingdom firm began to consider places to set up regional offices, and the first place that came to mind was right in the United States. Thus, U.S markets are set to get a shot at the EmoSPARK home console as well, and open up a whole new era in home management.

The expansion has already begun, at last report, incorporating operations under the name Emoshape LLC, and is set to start production on the home console starting in late April. The EmoSPARK itself, meanwhile, poses quite an exciting value that should raise plenty of eyebrows in the process. An EmoSPARK is, reportedly, capable of demonstrating several different human emotions with multimedia and social interaction, allowing it to better interact with humans on “a conversational level.” The EmoSPARK is capable of interacting with a variety of devices and applications, including smartphones, computers and televisions on the device end and games, Facebook and YouTube on the applications end.

Emoshape, for its part, is envisioning a future in which EmoSPARK devices run home automation systems, deliver educational benefits, and even run home security systems—Emoshape CEO Patrick Levy Rosenthal describes it as “Close your eyes and imagine a technology to teach objects how to interact with humans in order to yield a favorable result”--based on how a user is feeling at the time. With an EmoSPARK, according to reports, the system can learn what makes a user feel happy or excited and tailor presentations of data accordingly. The EmoSPARK can even memorize videos shared by things like a Facebook friends list for later use, thus allowing users to derive the benefits of same, and not lose out because a timeline moves too quickly.

The IndieGogo portion of EmoSPARK's development, meanwhile, has just 13 days to go, but has raised $94,843 at the time of this writing, and with the “Flexible Funding” option in place, the project looks poised to run, especially given earlier-noted plans to start construction and open branch offices.

It's an exciting idea, which explains why it's raised as much money as it has. While the thought of artificial intelligences leaves some people comparatively cold, it's also got a lot of potential to serve as a learning mechanism and to help out with user needs, without necessarily having to use a complex command structure. While cautionary tales abound of AI in the wrong hands, even the hands of AI systems themselves, the idea that such systems could be put to use to effectively help human beings really isn't out of line at all. EmoSPARK may prove to be the first in a long line of AI helpers for human beings, and that in turn could be the start of a long and mutually satisfactory—if it's even possible for AI to perceive satisfaction—relationship between the two.

Only time will tell just how far this all goes, but still, Emoshape's new EmoSPARK is certainly something to watch. With so many users getting in on the action so far, as expressed by the IndieGogo successes, there should be some early stories from beta testers coming soon, to see just how well it all works out.