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The company behind AR battle robots MekaMon is shutting down
So long, MekaMon. Reach Robotics, the company behind the customizable and kid-friendly spider robots, is closing its doors. In a LinkedIn blog post, co-founder and chief executive Silas Adekunle said the "consumer robotics sector is an inherently challenging space" and that the company, "in its current form at least," would not be moving forward. MekaMon, if you need a refresher, were gaming robots that battled each other and purely-digital enemies through an AR mobile app. The player's phone was both a controller and window into the otherwise invisible arena and blaster fire.
MekaMon is an anime-styled battle bot you pilot with your phone
Between the success of shows like BattleBots and the amount of interest in last month's MegaBots debacle, it's pretty obvious that people really want to watch robots fight. But while watching two mechanical titans grapple can be satisfying, few things have captured the feel of the robot battles in video games and anime. Reach Robotics' $300 MekaMon, which launches today in the Apple Store, might be the closest we've seen to capturing that cyber-future ambience. Its bots can run and climb around the physical world while also using AR to add virtual weaponry for the full Japanese mech experience.
Mekamon is a fighting robot with an augmented reality twist
A couple of little four-legged bots could be the future of fighting games. Reach Robotics, a UK-based company, is pushing for mixed reality gaming with modular robots called Mekamons that will face off in the digital and physical worlds. It's building an augmented reality game with these intelligent bots that are capable of launching a full-blown attack on each other. Its existing prototype at CES has infrared, Bluetooth and an in-built compass to help it detect the exact location of an opponent for an accurate attack in a multiplayer game. For now, Reach is using an app to control, arm and level up the bot in a single-player game (the only working format at the event).
