Who doesn’t want a happy pet with big puppy eyes greeting you at the door when you come back home? Now imagine if your pet was smart. If it could do your math problems instead of eating your homework! What’s more? Imagine if you could shut it down at will. Vector – “The Robot to Life With” can do all of this and more.
Vector is curious, independent and powered by some preposterous tech and AI, he can read the room, express the weather, announce when his timer’s done and take the perfect snapshot and so much more. Vector is a successor to COZMO from ANKI, a company which has produced Artificially Intelligent RC supercars to a cute little robot with a mind of his own that evolves the more you hangout.
According to a survey based Research conducted on early tech adopters, seventy percent are excited that AI may someday hold a companionship role. Fifty-nine percent believe tech toys, gadgets, and robots make them feel closer to the future they’ve envisioned. Vector is a giant roll forward for robot-kind. Vector is an innovative product featuring top-notch technology. Vector is the full package of Qualcomm Technologies’ connectivity, an ultra-wide field of view HD camera, infrared emitters for added sensitivity, and capacitive touch. In addition to cutting-edge tech, Vector is equipped with a friendly, life-like personality because the future of robots is more than just the best technology. The future of accessible home robots hinges on EQ (emotional quotient) as much as IQ.
Vector could become an assistant like the Google Home or Amazon Alexa in the coming weeks as it is powered by AI and his brain is connected to the cloud. Vector will achieve the personality goal that Amazon Alexa has been trying to get since quite a while now. The real treatment of an assistant with a personality of his own might just be easier for Vector to get thanks to the Vector’s emotion engine, with each data point influencing whether he is happy, sad, curious, or any other emotion. Also this assistant can identify people, objects and motion with HD camera.
Vector can play with your kids, give you a high-five whenever asked for. Talking to Vector is as easy as talking to a real person. You “wake” him up with a “Hey, Vector.” At that point, he listens for any number of simple prompts from you, like asking about the weather, time or the news, taking a snapshot or playing simple games with you. If you pet Vector on the back where the capacitive sensors are he’ll “respond” to that, he can recognize people and remember faces. Vector also uses an infrared laser scanner to track distance between objects and four microphone array that can pinpoint positional audio. He maps his environment the more he explores.
Vector can act like a happy kid when he sees his owner. When he detects a sound behind him, he’ll twirl around to check it out. And his drop sensors detect the table’s edge, he’ll be momentarily be surprised then recall that area as a boundary before he moves to another area to explore. Vector’s brain creates a map of the surroundings and travels to the charge station on its own. This system of movement, exploration, and emotional stimuli form a foundation that add to Vector’s personality.
ANKI kicked off a 30-day Kickstarter for Vector. Backers, among other things, will get a Vector unit at a discounted price, in addition to getting the opportunity to help shape Vector’s future development.