MOTHER artificial intelligence forces nerds to do the chores… or else

If you’ve ever been inside a dormitory full of computer science undergraduates, you know what horrors come of young men free of responsibility. To help combat the lack of homemaking skills in nerds everywhere, a group of them banded together to create MOTHER, a combination of home automation, basic artificial intelligence and gentle nagging designed to keep a domicile running at peak efficiency. And also possibly kill an entire crew of space truckers if they should come in contact with a xenomorphic alien – but that code module hasn’t been installed yet.

The project comes from the LVL1 Hackerspace, a group of like-minded programmers and engineers. The aim is to create an AI suited for a home environment that detect issues and gets its users (i.e. the people living in the home) to fix it. Through an array of digital sensors, MOTHER knows when the trash needs to be taken out, when the door is left unlocked, et cetera. If something isn’t done soon enough, she it can even disable the Internet connection for individual computers. MOTHER can notify users of tasks that need to be completed through a standard computer, phones or email, or stock ticker-like displays. In addition, MOTHER can use video and audio tools to recognize individual users, adjust the lighting, video or audio to their tastes, and generally keep users informed and creeped out at the same time.

MOTHER’s abilities are technically limitless – since it’s all based on open source software, those with the skill, inclination and hardware components can add functions at any time. Some of the more humorous additions already in the project include an instant dubstep command. You can build your own MOTHER (boy, there’s a sentence I never thought I’d be writing) by reading through the official Wiki and assembling the right software, sensors, servers and the like. Or you could just invite your mom over and take your lumps. Your choice.

[via PC World]