Robots and Gadgets–How Google Wave Just Might Take Over the World (Wide Web), Part 3

Google Wave uses applications known as robots and gadgets that allow you to add different kinds of functionality (i.e. lets you do lots of different stuff) to your waves.  Google has left the doors (and Wave license) wide-open for any developer to create a new gadget or robot of their own.  What does this mean for the end-user?

So Many Gadgets, So Little Time

Gadgets are applications you can insert into a wave.  Anyone who is following that wave can use them with you.  The three that come pre-installed on Google Wave are the Yes/No/Maybe, Map, and “Ribbit” Conference gadgets.

The Yes/No/Maybe gadget is a great polling or RSVP tool.  The Map gadget lets you use Google Maps with multiple users at the same time (instead of both parties having to type in addresses, etc. from separate browsers).  It allows you to create paths and landmarks that are shared between everyone on the wave.  I haven’t used this one much yet but am geekily excited about it.

And then there is the Ribbet Conference gadget.  This one can start a phone conference directly from your wave, so that you don’t have to have to use any other conferencing site or software.  I know a lot of you will like the sound of this in theory–but what if not every business associate you have (which at this early point in the game, is very likely most every associate) doesn’t have Wave?

Not a problem.  This gadget also lets you ring people who haven’t gotten their invites yet.  It also lets you mute, disconnect, and put people on hold.  Currrently, it allows anyone on the wave to perform these administrative functions; I’m guessing Google will fix this by allowing the wave’s originator to distribute or restrict administrative authority as he or she sees fit, though.

Here Come the Robots

Robots are a lot like gadgets in that they let you do new and different things with your waves.  They are different from gadgets in that they are actual participants in the wave, updating them automatically and seemingly with “minds of their own”.

Sound a little freakishly science fictional?  It gets better: you add bots to your wave account just like you would add another person.  You add bots to the contacts section of your dashboard, and even do it in the form of robot@website.com, just like an email address that you’d use to add a person.  You can add a bot to your waves just like you add human participants.

Wave Robots can read and even modify what a wave says, create new waves, add or remove participants on the waves.  Google tells us more about robots: they can also be set to synchronize a wave’s information or contents to other waves and even non-wave media, as well as access, modify, or otherwise interact with a third party.  For example, they can add data to a database or send a wave’s contents to be published on a Blogspot blog.

Robots can even modify gadgets.  Google’s robots vs. gadgets explanation says that, while robots can modify gadgets, gadgets can’t modify robots because they don’t know that robots exist. Which implies that robots, as you might expect from the name, have a bit of awareness going on.

While there are plenty of computer programs that have focused awareness (anti-virus programs and firewalls being the first that come to mind), something about this seems both scary and thrilling to me.  Maybe it’s because I read so much science fiction growing up…or maybe it’s because we’re all going to be interacting with self-aware, semi-intelligent programs on a regular basis in the near future.

That’s Not All, Folks.

In a few days, I’ll come back and tell you about a few more gadgets that might be useful in a business environment.  But the next article in our Google Wave series will be about how some companies are developing their own branded versions of Wave.  Don’t miss it!