Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Anki Reveals Autonomous 'Vector' Home Robot With AI Learning to Help Around the House
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I think the answer is, "because it's really cute."
I like, though, how they show it on a desk, say it'll follow you around the house, and that it's equipped with "cliff sensors"... so what happens when it gets to the edge of the desk and you go into another room? Does it plaintively whimper "come back!" or hurl itself down to the floor to follow, or what?
so a smart speaker that follows you around? Doesn't match what I would expect from "help around the house." If it could replace my housekeeper we'd have something to talk about.
Agreed. And even more so, it appears as though the Kickstarter element is simply a marketing tactic. There is a huge, enthusiastic concentration of people that like to be early adopters. Since it is already in production, the Kickstarter elements seem to be more about getting a running start on advertising rather than generating funds for development.
Two things that would make this an order of magnitude more useful:
1) Allow it to integrate with HomeKit so that you can tell it to turn lights on & off, etc. (Not sure if Apple would allow that.)
2) Give it drone/flight capabilities as well as wheels, so that when it reaches the end of the table you can just say “hey Vector, follow me” and it will fly off the end of the table, follow you into the other room, and settle on a table in that room.
1) Allow it to integrate with HomeKit so that you can tell it to turn lights on & off, etc. (Not sure if Apple would allow that.)
2) Give it drone/flight capabilities as well as wheels, so that when it reaches the end of the table you can just say “hey Vector, follow me” and it will fly off the end of the table, follow you into the other room, and settle on a table in that room.
Pretty negative.
Anki has pretty much proven their worth ... I like the company small dedicated, driven!
There is another robot that I'm more interested in ... it's a spider and it's fast.
Still early days in robotic AI assistants.
I want ROBOCOP!!!
Anki makes weird products. First a race track with cars that drive on their own. With a phone or tablet app you can shoot things at each other, which has effects on the cars. I still don't understand why that is more fun than slot racing or an arcade racing game on a phone or tablet.
Now this thing. It looks cute. It can look things up for you like stocks and conversions. Like the apps we have been wanting to delete from our iPhones for years. Can this thing take doorsteps?
Now this thing. It looks cute. It can look things up for you like stocks and conversions. Like the apps we have been wanting to delete from our iPhones for years. Can this thing take doorsteps?
- Cloud-connected
- Always on
- HD Camera
- Four microphones
- Mobile (on wheels)
Man the people in the video are delusional or full of sh*t. Maybe both! It’s a toy car that drives around and can set a time. Woopie doooo
Anki has revealed its fourth consumer product in the form of a home robot that it's calling "Vector," launching on Kickstarter today. Although the company has debuted a Kickstarter to give backers early access to the robot on October 9, it's promising that Vector will launch wide just a few days later, in stores on October 12, 2018.
The new robot looks visually similar to Anki's previous "Cozmo" robot, which teaches kids how to code through games and a compatible iOS app. Vector differs significantly in functionality, however, with the company explaining that Vector is a major step forward in robotics and is meant to be an always-on companion robot that follows you around your house to help in your daily routine.
Once you complete a one-time setup with the connected iOS or Android app, Anki says that all further interactions with Vector are done with eye contact and talking to the robot. Vector is fully autonomous, cloud-connected, and always-on, and has a personality, facial expressions, and animations ("around a thousand") created from a team of animators coming from major studios like Pixar.
Anki says that Vector is closer to the fantasy of at-home robot helpers than any company has yet to come:
Vector is outfitted with an HD camera with a 120-degree ultra-wide field of view to see your house and his users, and can even learn the name of everyone he sees. With four microphones to hear and detect commands (by saying "Hey Vector"), you can ask Vector about the weather, geography, nutrition, astronomy, sports, stocks, flights, time zones, unit conversion, currency conversion, and math equations.
The robot also supports setting timers and taking photos, and knows when to greet you at the door when you arrive home thanks to the onboard HD camera and microphones. The company says these features help Vector become a "more productive" member of the household, allowing users to set up additional timers from their other smart devices. The robot can also play a few games using an included "Cube" accessory, knows how to play Blackjack, and dances when he hears music.
When Vector is running low on battery, the robot will locate and travel back to the included charging cradle. Vector also has four cliff sensors with infrared emitters, ensuring that any trips the robot goes on won't end in spills over counter edges in your house.
Anki says that Vector was "designed with security and privacy in mind," with features installed that strengthen the device's security and minimize data collection. According to the company, it "does not store voice or audio in the cloud." Down the line, Anki also promises consistent over-the-air updates that will introduce new features, animations, and commands for Vector.
Currently, the Vector Kickstarter goal is $500,000 in 30 days, and early access backers can get the robot for $199.99 for an estimated arrival on October 9. The retail launch will then happen on October 12, when Vector will be priced at $249.99 and ship with one base charger and one interactive Cube.
Article Link: Anki Reveals Autonomous 'Vector' Home Robot With AI Learning to Help Around the House
Yes, but it’s also not solely a product-blind investor platform. People don’t expect money when the company profits, or shares in the company.. The return is the promised perk, eventually. Sure expecting everything to happen like clockwork is naïve and unreasonable, but some kickstarters have literally not delivered or delivered something radically different from what was funded. Kickstarter/indigogo’s whole jam is predicated on funding projects by getting non-formal consumer investors to buy into the idea, in the hopes of recieving said projects appropriate product or service.
I get part of this but all it really does is just answer questions Siri or Alexa can already do, but with even less functionality. I'm not sure I get the appeal of spending $200 for a robot that can't really do anything new.
Thx. I can watch this movie every day.
Dr. Rumack: Captain, these passengers don't have much time. How soon can we land?
Oveur: I can't tell.
Dr. Rumack: You can tell me, I'm a doctor.
Oveur: What I mean is, I don't know.
Dr. Rumack: Well can't you take a guess?
Oveur: ...Not for another two hours.
Dr. Rumack: You can't take a guess for another two hours?
Oveur: No what I'm saying is we can't land for another two hours.
