We could do with a useful robot around the place here at Newsflash Online, and until a fully sentient R2 unit rolls around, we’ve been keeping our eyes on the commercial robotic assistants hitting the market.
Like plenty of other people, we were quite taken with robotics and AI toy company Anki’s last offering, Cozmo. Released in 2016, Cozmo was aimed at kids but also made friends with a lot of tech-loving adults.
Anki’s website said: ‘He’s a real-life robot like you’ve only seen in movies, with a one-of-a-kind personality that evolves the more you hang out. He’ll nudge you to play and keep you constantly surprised. Cozmo’s your accomplice in a crazy amount of fun.’
Vector is like Cozmo for grown-ups
Now though, Anki has unveiled a new robot aimed squarely at the adult market. Vector has the same basic design but with a more subdued colour scheme. It’s still cute and it’s still mobile, but Vector’s main competitors are home assistants such as Alexa. It can do a number of tasks from a station on your desk or kitchen counter, but the wheels aren’t just for show. He can move about, mapping environments and avoiding objects as he does so.
A big difference between Vector and Cozmo is that the children’s toy had to be connected to a smartphone, which was where the bulk of the computing was done. Vector has his own connectivity and onboard AI, meaning that he doesn’t have to be tethered to your mobile.
Future products will grow in size and capability
Anki’s Co-Founder and Head of Cloud AI and Machine Learning Mark Palatucci told Wired: ‘Vector’s going to be the first robot that’s truly living in peoples’ homes, fully autonomous, 24/7, recharges itself. The goal for us is if we can have you set up this robot once then a year later he’s still running, then that’s success.
‘If you look at the path we have been on, this is the natural evolution for the company. With this product we have done a lot of things: autonomous, always on, added natural language. But the physical constraints are the big limitation here. Now that we have this entire robotic operating system end to end, it’s going to be interesting to see where it goes. And yes, the natural evolution is into much, much bigger spaces.’
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