The team at Anki has been developing a family-friendly, adorable home robot since 2016 and the initiative has since become the most-funded robotics project at Kickstarter. So, to answer the Kickstarter community's top request for the robot, which goes by the name of Vector, Alexa will be integrated into its personality, maybe even by the end of this year.
According to a blog post uploaded Oct 9 by Anki's CEO and co-founder, Boris Sofman, Vector – "The Good Robot" who is emotionally intelligent – is getting some updates, including Alexa.
This cute little guy represents, according to Sofman, "a friendly, symbiotic future where robots and mankind live in peace". As the first social home robot that's fully autonomous, he's also the first that's not bound to a smart device. Rather, the quad-core CPU provides him with technical abilities like cloud connection and the intelligence to react to voice commands, as well as the capacity to respond to sense-related stimulants, such as touch.
What comes as a bit of a surprise, however, is Alexa. The company is currently working with Amazon to integrate the virtual voice assistant into the little bot. This addition over the upcoming year will be just one among many that the Anki developers are exploring, like pet detection, home monitoring, and delivering messages just to name a few.
Even without these attributes, however, this social robot "plots to help you, never against you" according to the specs on the site. Vector can tell you the weather, set a timer, take a photo, and even deal blackjack cards. Though he can't answer all your questions, he can tell you about pop culture, sports, and nutrition, and he'll only get more knowledgeable over time.
Vector can be yours for US$249.99 (RM1,038.51). Pre-ordering is available already, and the bot will officially be in stock on Oct 12.
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