Anki, the company behind the Cozmo robot, has launched its latest cute robot – Vector. Although its name isn’t as twee as its predecessor, the Vector robot is just as smart, becoming your sidekick and helping you get through everyday tasks.
He features a whole host of sensors and tech to help you along your way, including an HD camera for identifying people, pets and places, infrared sensors to track objects, capacitive touch for connecting with its owner and a four-microphone array that can pinpoint positional audio.
As is the case with most personal assistants (Siri and Google, for example), just need to say “Hey, Vector” to waken him. Then he’ll await your instructions, whether you want to get a weather forecast for the rest of the week, get the latest news headlines or just ask what the time is.
Because of his touch sensors, Vector will respond to your touch affectionately and he’ll recognise those who care for him the most.
“Vector also uses an infrared laser scanner to track distance between objects and map his environment as he explores, and a four-microphone array that can pinpoint positional audio,” the company’s Kickstarter page says. “These and other sensors provide the inputs that drive Vector’s emotion engine, with each data point influencing whether he is happy, sad, curious, or any other emotion.”
So if his owner calls him, he’ll get excited and if he hears a noise from far away, he’ll go and investigate. If he’s walking along and reaches the edge of a table, for example, he’ll stop and then turn around ,mapping the area as he goes.
“In addition to cutting-edge tech, we’ve equipped Vector with a friendly, life-like personality because we believe the future of robots is more than just the best technology,” Anki president and co-founder Hanns Tappeiner said. “The future of accessible home robots hinges on EQ (emotional quotient) as much as IQ.”
