The future of home robotics wasn’t supposed to be this dumb. We were promised K-9 companions, Baymax best mates, tiny droids with built-in projectors and nights out with Bender, the ultimate party robot. Instead, we got several different incarnations of vacuum and self-driving cars that can’t drive themselves. Elon Musk’s latest creation wishes it was sophisticated as the robotic Richard Simmons from The Simpsons.
Now, we have Astro, a three-wheeled robot that’s less android buddy, more RoboCop if he ran the local neighbourhood watch.
The Astro, announced on Tuesday, is billed as a convenience tool, a robot butler that, according to its own advert, will be used to check if the hob has been left on and lets users video call grandparents. It moves at one metre per second, detects movement wherever it patrols and can be linked to a Ring home security system.
It can care for the elderly, says Amazon’s hardware chief Dave Limp. It can be steered via your phone, allowing the owner to peer through its camera like a periscope. Through its facial recognition software it can detect intruders it doesn’t recognise (which may come with some depressingly predictable problems). It’s also kind of cute, a rectangular headed puppy that stares up at its owner with glowing, Wall-E eyes.
Alongside Astro, Amazon also announced a flurry of new smart gadgets designed to invite Bezos’s company further into the family home. There’s a £45 Alexa-compatible thermostat, an interactive tablet for kids and a £60 Fitbit rival watch. All are controlled using the Alexa assistant.
Robots aren’t all stupid. They provide jobs for paralysed individuals in Japanese cafés. They could help children with autism improve their social skills. Robot puppies do flips, which is nothing if not novel, and only in rare cases do they lash out and attack the elderly.
Many social robots, such as the ElliQ ‘aging-sidekick’, Jibo and the Paroseal, a £5,000 pet-therapy robotic purring fuzzball, serve seemingly good purposes, but have failed to make any sizable impact. Amazon, meanwhile, sold 1.4 million Ring doorbells in 2020 alone, and has signed agreements with more than 2,000 US police and fire departments. Indeed, Alexa is now available in more than 80 countries.
In the domestic robot market, the sheer size of Amazon means it has a better chance of succeeding where others have failed. But where other robots offer clever little companions for lonely grandparents or fluffy seals for children to cuddle, Amazon’s message is clear: ”You want to keep your family safe? Our products can help.”
Fearful someone might steal your post? Buy our $30 mailbox motion sensor. Going on holiday? For $5-a-month Alexa Guard Plus will listen out for noises in your home and play the sound of barking dogs.
Half of the products announced in Amazon’s 2021 showcase were linked to home security. Astro and the now available Ring Always Home Cam indoor security drone serve little more purpose than to snoop. A fully automated snitch-bot that turns its owners into nosey neighbours.
Astro, Amazon’s new dog bot, is well equipped to snoop