One Startup Strives To Make Iron Man's J.A.R.V.I.S. A Reality

Almost since the dawn of science fiction there have been intelligent robots, androids, or computers of some sort--systems capable of understanding natural speech and intuitively interacting with the user. From HAL 9000 in 2001: A Space Odyssey, to the Cortana artificial intelligence system in the Halo video games, to the iconic ship's computer on the Starship Enterprise in the Star Trek franchise, characters simply converse with the computer using normal language, and the computer responds accordingly. Perhaps nothing exemplifies this sort of interaction better, though, than J.A.R.V.I.S.--the artificially intelligent personal concierge developed by billionaire genius philanthropist Tony Stark in the Iron Man comics and movies. I wrote recently about how's Siri, or's Google Now services are a step in that direction. But, both of those services are much closer to just being voice-enabled Web search engines than they are to being an artificially intelligent personal assistant.