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Say goodbye to the company that made the cute Kuri robot
It's a sad day if you're fond of robotic assistants. Mayfield Robotics, the company behind the awww-inducing Kuri robot, is shutting down on October 31st, 2018. Simply put, the company had run out of options after cancelling Kuri. The company was "unable to reach an agreement" with other partners to help finance and develop its technology. Longtime partner Bosch will ease the burden for employees by offering severance packages and helping them find new jobs (including at Bosch).
Adorable home robot Kuri is being discontinued
Cute mechanical companion Kuri is no more. In a blog post published today, manufacturer Mayfield Robotics said that operations have been paused while it evaluates the company's future, and that pre-orders of the adorable home robot will not be filled (all pre-order deposits will be refunded).
Kuri robot will (hopefully) record your family's precious moments
If you're a parent, you probably dread the thought of missing an important moment in your child's life. Do you really want to be in the other room when your little one takes those first steps? Mayfield Robotics thinks it can be there even when you can't. It's adding yet another feature to its upcoming Kuri home robot that will record moments independently. The tiny companion will use a mix of machine learning and image recognition to determine when it should start capturing video, using your preferences as a guide. Ideally, this will catch your kids' playtime or an impromptu dance party without asking you to lift a finger -- and the more it records, the more it should understand your tastes.
Kuri home robot can tell your pets from people
Mayfield Robotics' Kuri isn't out yet, but that isn't precluding the company from giving it some big upgrades ahead of the robo helper's late 2017 debut. Kuri can now recognize cats and dogs -- it'll know the difference between your pet and your significant other. The robot's vision cameras are also receiving an upgrade to 1080p, so you can expect higher-quality views of what's going on at home.
The Future IRL: Everyone gets an R2D2
If you've spent any time on Kickstarter, you've already seen those questionable rolling trashcan bots mixed among promising pieces of tech. You might even start thinking truly useful home-based robots have arrived. And, hey, it's about time! The first domestic robots started cropping up in the '80s. But, while the Hero-1 might have inspired a generation of roboticists, public perception of robots in the home hasn't changed much since the Reagan era. Now a whole slew of bots, like Jibo, Pepper and Kuri are trying to worm their way into our hearts. Nearly all have the ability to broadcast what their on-board camera sees to a companion app. Some can even be programmed to map rooms, execute commands when they 'see' certain actions or people, and even complete sentry patrols. If you've been waiting for your very own R2D2, reality may finally be catching up with your dreams. Don't miss the next episode of Future IRL on February 21st, when we'll be looking at the future of home delivery.
Kuri home robot can read to your kids and watch your home
You may not have to wait for the likes of ASUS' Zenbo to cross the ocean before you can get an affordable home robot. Mayfield Robotics (one of Bosch's startups) has taken the wraps off Kuri, a 20-inch-tall robot companion that promises to play nicely with your smart home. It can answer questions with a humanlike touch (facial expressions, head gestures and sounds), watch over your home with a 1080p camera and play audio, whether it follows you around with music or reads to your kids. It's reportedly easy to program, and you can use IFTTT to have it talk to other smart household devices.
