Anki's 'Vector' Home Robot Now Available for Purchase

[MacRumors]

Anki, known for its lineup of Overdrive iPhone-controlled cars and the Cozmo robot, today announced the official launch of its newest product, the Vector home robot.

Vector first debuted on Kickstarter back in August, where it earned nearly $2 million in funding.

Unlike Cozmo, Anki's first robot, Vector is not a toy and is instead meant to be a robot companion. Vector is autonomous, cloud-connected, always on, and ready to help you get through the day.

Vector can do things that Alexa and Siri can do, like providing the weather, setting the time, providing word definitions, solving equations, answering pop culture questions, and more. Vector is activated with a "Hey Vector" command.

Vector can also take a photo of you and offer up a game of blackjack. In the future, Anki also plans to add Alexa support to allow Vector to do more. Other future capabilities include smart home control, notifications, music recognition, security camera functionality, news information, messages, and more.

Anki's robot is designed to interact with you using eye contact and voice commands, and Anki has given him a personality so that he's fun to interact with.

Vector is equipped with an HD camera that lets him see the world around him, navigate spaces, recognize people, and take images. There's also a four-microphone array so that he can hear commands, and there are built-in touch sensors and an accelerometer allowing him to feel touch.

Vector also has a high-powered processor that allows him to answer queries and process the environment around him, and he has his own unique voice and language made up of hundreds of synthesized sounds.

A charging dock is included, and Vector is smart enough to return to his charger when he is low on battery. Vector requires a compatible iOS or Android device and a 2.4GHz WiFi connection to function. Vector ships with the aforementioned charger plus an interactive cube, and an optional base is available for $30.

Vector can be purchased from the Anki website or from Amazon.com for $249.99.

Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Amazon and may earn commissions on purchases made through links in this article.

Article Link: Anki's 'Vector' Home Robot Now Available for Purchase

 

[Zoboomafoo]

Hey Vector, what’s your victor?

 

[H.E. Pennypacker]

$250 for a talking mini forklift. Count me out.

 

[kalafalas]

What do you do? I pass butter.

 

[Apple_Robert]

I don't see the company staying in business long with this kind of offering.

 

[Krayzkat]

Are they actually serious with this Kinder egg toy?

 

[smithrh]

Neat - I'll be getting one.

 

[djlythium]

This company is still around? Impressive.

 

[Aston441]

I find it intriguing.

Finally someone is trying to do something that's not another stupid phone/tablet or copy of whatever Apple is (isn't?) doing.

I hope they do well and have many interesting updates.

 

[ThunderSkunk]

Very nice. Glad to see they’re still working at it and making improvements.

 

[DocMultimedia]

Are they actually serious with this Kinder egg toy?

I agree, I don't quite get this one. But to each their own.

 

[cruisin]

A review:

 

[lostngone]

I don’t care what you say, it’s a toy.

Don’t get me wrong I think it is cool and I will probably get one.
[doublepost=1539398340][/doublepost]

Hey Vector, what’s your victor?

I got the joke but you are showing your age...

 

[theheadguy]

Hey Vector, what’s your victor?

You win!

 

[MrJeffreyGee]

The security camera feature is very intriguing. I wonder if you could control him remotely.

 

[3rdiguy]

Wish it had HomeKit integration. That would be something

 

[dpm114]

Can it get me a beer out of the fridge?

 

[JustCallBen]

Hey Vector, what’s your victor?

Roger. Unger. Over. Unger.

 

[rubberfish]

$250 for a talking mini forklift. Count me out.

Man. I couldn’t resist. Bought!

 

[Gudieve Ning]

Amazes me people put so much effort into something that has zero purpose due to a) Fact a smart phone can provide all the smart features b) Limited movement, so unable go be a true robot.
c) If someone needs an artificial companion, they need help from family, friends or community.

Anki, known for its lineup of Overdrive iPhone-controlled cars and the Cozmo robot, today announced the official launch of its newest product, the Vector home robot.

Vector first debuted on Kickstarter back in August, where it earned nearly $2 million in funding.

Unlike Cozmo, Anki's first robot, Vector is not a toy and is instead meant to be a robot companion. Vector is autonomous, cloud-connected, always on, and ready to help you get through the day.

Vector can do things that Alexa and Siri can do, like providing the weather, setting the time, providing word definitions, solving equations, answering pop culture questions, and more. Vector is activated with a "Hey Vector" command.

Vector can also take a photo of you and offer up a game of blackjack. In the future, Anki also plans to add Alexa support to allow Vector to do more. Other future capabilities include smart home control, notifications, music recognition, security camera functionality, news information, messages, and more.

Anki's robot is designed to interact with you using eye contact and voice commands, and Anki has given him a personality so that he's fun to interact with.

Vector is equipped with an HD camera that lets him see the world around him, navigate spaces, recognize people, and take images. There's also a four-microphone array so that he can hear commands, and there are built-in touch sensors and an accelerometer allowing him to feel touch.

Vector also has a high-powered processor that allows him to answer queries and process the environment around him, and he has his own unique voice and language made up of hundreds of synthesized sounds.

A charging dock is included, and Vector is smart enough to return to his charger when he is low on battery. Vector requires a compatible iOS or Android device and a 2.4GHz WiFi connection to function. Vector ships with the aforementioned charger plus an interactive cube, and an optional base is available for $30.

Vector can be purchased from the Anki website or from Amazon.com for $249.99.

Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Amazon and may earn commissions on purchases made through links in this article.

Article Link: Anki's 'Vector' Home Robot Now Available for Purchase

 

[maflynn]

Seems like it overly expensive for something that just makes weird noises.

 

[Recognition]

The security camera feature is very intriguing. I wonder if you could control him remotely.

I think the point will be you don’t need to control him at all.
He’ll be at your home, roaming around the ground floor, returning to his charger when needed, and if he hears a sound, he’ll go investigate, using the 4 microphones and various sensors to navigate to the source of the noise, then take photos/live stream and send you a notification.
Think I’ll get one for Xmas, for my little boy of course

 

[hortod1]

all fun and games until the dog gets a hold of it. expensive chew toy

 

[4jasontv]

Did Anki reach out to you about posting this? I ask because my YouTube subscription feed is filled with sponsored content about this product - and this product, with maybe the exception that it offers an iOS app, is pretty far removed from Apple.

That said - it's very cute and would be a great addition to my desk if it can identify and avoid cats.

 

[NomadicTy]

I'd rather have a robot than those silly speaker/CIA bugs that amazon/apple/google offer. At least a robot can (hopefully someday soon) be roving security.

 

[ke-iron]

How is this useful? Are people going to walk around their home with it? At least smart speakers have far reaching microphones that can hear and respond to commands from anywhere in the room.