The Thirst to Sprint: A Robot's Dilemma

As I stood there, watching the images of sci-fi takeovers flash in my head, I couldn't help but feel a pang of disappointment. The idea of a robot that could do everything I wanted it to do, from grabbing a can of soda controlled by a nearby computer to patrolling my home and serving as a personal assistant, was too much to handle. It was going to be super expensive, and the representative wouldn't even give me a price, let alone provide any concrete details about its capabilities. The idea of taking a family trip overseas with a robot companion was never practical or feasible, and I couldn't shake off the feeling that it would never happen.

Even admitting that it was never going to be a reality still hurt a little. I had always been fascinated by robots and their potential to change our lives for the better. The idea of having a robot friend, like Curry or Aioli, was still close to my heart, but there were other robots on the horizon that showed promise. The MISTI and MISTY 2, for example, were kind of like robot canvases for developers to work with and build upon. They had the potential to lay the groundwork for more advanced robots in the future.

At CES, I saw several robots that caught my eye. UBTech had a yoga teaching bot called Lynx, while Samsung debuted a walking robot called Walker. LG also showed off its own concept robot. But what really caught my attention was the Bot Handy, which had object recognition and the ability to grasp and move objects. It was what I wanted, but it was still just a concept for now.

Despite the lack of concrete details about these robots, they were all steps in the right direction. I saw robots that could hold conversations, carry boxes, and show off their agility. But what really caught my eye was Astro, which is being launched as an invite-only device. It has autonomous navigation, a built-in voice assistant, and can even follow you around during video calls. It's got expressive eyes and cupholders for some reason (perhaps it's a nod to the classic sci-fi trope of robots with novelty accessories?). It can map your home, patrol areas that sound suspicious, and recognize faces.

Astro is also being touted as a security bot, which is kind of like Curry but a few years later. It's got all the bells and whistles, including autonomous mapping and a built-in smart speaker. The fact that it's being released as an invite-only device for now suggests that Amazon isn't confident enough in its capabilities to launch it widely just yet.

One of the biggest concerns with Astro is its potential impact on privacy. Amazon execs are already talking about what the Astro 2 might be capable of, which raises questions about how much data will be collected and stored. The company has promised that only video will be sent to the cloud when the device is in "away mode," but some might find it suspicious that even the processing used to navigate is done locally before sending information to the cloud.

The Astro launch has also raised questions about what makes a robot worthwhile. While some of us may dream of having robots that can open doors or perform tasks like vacuuming, others may be happy with more basic functionality. For me, I want a robot that can serve as a personal assistant, following my every move and anticipating my needs.

The link to get on the invite list for Astro is below, but I should mention that I'll also be sharing some of my colleagues' stories detailing the very real privacy concerns raised by the robots. If you're interested in seeing what people are saying about Astro and its potential impact, check out those links as well.

In the meantime, I want to know: is Astro enough for you? Or are you holding out for Rosie? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.

As for me, I'll just have to be my own friendly helper robot – extreme or not.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enthe robot uprising might be upon us at last and i'm kind of here for it let's talk about amazon's astro and the ongoing quest to put a helper robot in your home i love robots i do i really want a rosie the robot in my home call it laziness if you want hey kind of mean but who likes doing those chores who likes washing the dishes or vacuuming technology is getting better let's automate this astro might be the closest we get to a mainstream consumer robot for a while but not for lack of trying and not just because the name's also a jetson's reference let's talk about some of the helper bots that preceded astro then i'll dive into the pros and cons of astro itself and based on all that i'll talk about what i want next from my household bot astro is not the first robot marketed to consumers far from it and i'm not even going to get into the stuff that's primarily just a toy like sony's ibo every year at ces there are piles of robots that vary from far out their tech concept to ambitious consumer pipe dream to robots that actually kind of have a chance of launching here are a couple that i actually liked i'll start with mayfield robotics curry from ces 2017 it was adorable first and foremost the eyes were super expressive it could function as a bluetooth speaker but primarily curry was a roaming security bot it would map your floors and could follow a patrol pattern and notify you if something was out of the ordinary so yeah cute eyes autonomous navigation security focus curry had a lot in common with astro it even had a big name behind it sure mayfield robotics was a startup but it was backed by bosch a giant appliance manufacturer and still it never made it to market in july of 2018 mayfield robotics announced that it was ceasing production and refunding all pre-orders while curry had a legitimate chance to come to fruition one of my other favorites aiolis probably never did but it was exactly what i was looking for this was the next year at ces 2018 and aiolis had hands that could grip objects it had object recognition it could move and map spaces in theory it could grab a vacuum cleaner and navigate well enough to use it it could pick up after you it could also act as a security robot and learn faces it checked all the right boxes and it was humongous i can imagine this giant thing rolling toward me in a darkened hallway with a can of soda and me foregoing my very real thirst to sprint the other direction just because images of sci-fi takeovers started to flash in my head and it was going to be super expensive the representative wouldn't even give me a price just as much as a family trip overseas so it was not practical and it was never gonna happen i mentioned all those things it could do in theory at ces it was just grabbing a can of soda as controlled by a guy nearby on a computer but it was just so cool that even admitting that it was never gonna happen still kind of hurts it's okay i'll have a robot friend someday curry and aiolis still hold a special place in my heart but there were plenty of others of varying scope and ambition that should also help lay the groundwork for my eventual perfect robot helper the misti and misty 2 are kind of like robot canvases for developers at large to work with and build on ubtech had a yoga teaching bot called lynx and a walking robot called walker lg and samsung debuted concept robots and they do that nearly every year at ces but at ces 2021 samsung had one called bot handy that had object recognition and an ability to grasp and move stuff it was what i wanted but just a concept for now we've seen robots that can hold a conversation you've no doubt seen the videos of boston dynamics bots carrying boxes and showing off their agility but in terms of robots you can actually buy astro is a big big step it's not necessarily the one i wanted though i wanted one of these ambitious starry eyed startups to do it not freaking amazon but here we are and astro does look cool autonomous navigation built-in voice assistant of course it has a periscope cam to see that much higher and further it has expressive eyes and cupholders for some reason it can follow you around when you're on a video call it can map your home and go check something if it hears a suspicious noise it can patrol it can recognize faces so if it sees a stranger it'll go take a pic and send it to you if the stranger is patient enough to stand still that is in terms of privacy amazon is saying some of the right things it only sends video to the cloud if it's in away mode the processing used to navigate is done locally which is cool but the floor map is stored in the cloud you can set out of bounds rooms but it records 360 degree video while it's patrolling it can't open doors obviously but still amazon is a big company and astro is going to get to know you and your home very well for better or worse and from a functionality standpoint it's kind of just curry a few years later and actually coming to fruition it's a roaming security bot with eyes for personality and a built-in smart speaker that's not to say the technology isn't cool it is the autonomous mapping the fact that it's a consumer bot that's actually ready for consumers that's awesome in and of itself but even amazon's not confident enough in astro for a full launch astro is launching as an invite only device for now it's from amazon's experimental wing the echo frames and the echo loop launched from the same wing and if those devices don't sound familiar it's because amazon puts out experimental stuff all the time and if they don't take off it just quietly moves the products to the dustbin at the other end of the spectrum once upon a time the amazon echo smart speaker was also an experimental invite only product so it's definitely within the realm of possibility that astro takes off amazon execs are already talking about what the astro 2 might be capable of to satisfy my own robot cravings though i want a little bit more in terms of basic functionality having arms and the ability to grip and move objects might be too far away even if samsung is showing it as a concept but what about vacuuming we have robot vacuums now why not put astro on top of one of those so it can serve a dual purpose while it's patrolling your home anyway granted that might make the product bulkier but who cares designers do but i don't again astro is a big step for consumer robots but my favorites add a level of convenience that's what rosie does that's what i want a robot of the future to do and astro doesn't do too much of that yet check out the link below to get on the invite list for astro right good reminder i'll also link to some of my colleagues stories detailing the very real privacy concerns raised by the robots and let me know in the comments what you would want to make a consumer robot seem worthwhile is astro enough for you or are you holding out for rosie thanks for watching please hit that thumbs up button and subscribe to the cnet youtube channel for more and in the meantime you want to be my friendly helper robot that seems extreme but all right i can take a hint thanks for watchingthe robot uprising might be upon us at last and i'm kind of here for it let's talk about amazon's astro and the ongoing quest to put a helper robot in your home i love robots i do i really want a rosie the robot in my home call it laziness if you want hey kind of mean but who likes doing those chores who likes washing the dishes or vacuuming technology is getting better let's automate this astro might be the closest we get to a mainstream consumer robot for a while but not for lack of trying and not just because the name's also a jetson's reference let's talk about some of the helper bots that preceded astro then i'll dive into the pros and cons of astro itself and based on all that i'll talk about what i want next from my household bot astro is not the first robot marketed to consumers far from it and i'm not even going to get into the stuff that's primarily just a toy like sony's ibo every year at ces there are piles of robots that vary from far out their tech concept to ambitious consumer pipe dream to robots that actually kind of have a chance of launching here are a couple that i actually liked i'll start with mayfield robotics curry from ces 2017 it was adorable first and foremost the eyes were super expressive it could function as a bluetooth speaker but primarily curry was a roaming security bot it would map your floors and could follow a patrol pattern and notify you if something was out of the ordinary so yeah cute eyes autonomous navigation security focus curry had a lot in common with astro it even had a big name behind it sure mayfield robotics was a startup but it was backed by bosch a giant appliance manufacturer and still it never made it to market in july of 2018 mayfield robotics announced that it was ceasing production and refunding all pre-orders while curry had a legitimate chance to come to fruition one of my other favorites aiolis probably never did but it was exactly what i was looking for this was the next year at ces 2018 and aiolis had hands that could grip objects it had object recognition it could move and map spaces in theory it could grab a vacuum cleaner and navigate well enough to use it it could pick up after you it could also act as a security robot and learn faces it checked all the right boxes and it was humongous i can imagine this giant thing rolling toward me in a darkened hallway with a can of soda and me foregoing my very real thirst to sprint the other direction just because images of sci-fi takeovers started to flash in my head and it was going to be super expensive the representative wouldn't even give me a price just as much as a family trip overseas so it was not practical and it was never gonna happen i mentioned all those things it could do in theory at ces it was just grabbing a can of soda as controlled by a guy nearby on a computer but it was just so cool that even admitting that it was never gonna happen still kind of hurts it's okay i'll have a robot friend someday curry and aiolis still hold a special place in my heart but there were plenty of others of varying scope and ambition that should also help lay the groundwork for my eventual perfect robot helper the misti and misty 2 are kind of like robot canvases for developers at large to work with and build on ubtech had a yoga teaching bot called lynx and a walking robot called walker lg and samsung debuted concept robots and they do that nearly every year at ces but at ces 2021 samsung had one called bot handy that had object recognition and an ability to grasp and move stuff it was what i wanted but just a concept for now we've seen robots that can hold a conversation you've no doubt seen the videos of boston dynamics bots carrying boxes and showing off their agility but in terms of robots you can actually buy astro is a big big step it's not necessarily the one i wanted though i wanted one of these ambitious starry eyed startups to do it not freaking amazon but here we are and astro does look cool autonomous navigation built-in voice assistant of course it has a periscope cam to see that much higher and further it has expressive eyes and cupholders for some reason it can follow you around when you're on a video call it can map your home and go check something if it hears a suspicious noise it can patrol it can recognize faces so if it sees a stranger it'll go take a pic and send it to you if the stranger is patient enough to stand still that is in terms of privacy amazon is saying some of the right things it only sends video to the cloud if it's in away mode the processing used to navigate is done locally which is cool but the floor map is stored in the cloud you can set out of bounds rooms but it records 360 degree video while it's patrolling it can't open doors obviously but still amazon is a big company and astro is going to get to know you and your home very well for better or worse and from a functionality standpoint it's kind of just curry a few years later and actually coming to fruition it's a roaming security bot with eyes for personality and a built-in smart speaker that's not to say the technology isn't cool it is the autonomous mapping the fact that it's a consumer bot that's actually ready for consumers that's awesome in and of itself but even amazon's not confident enough in astro for a full launch astro is launching as an invite only device for now it's from amazon's experimental wing the echo frames and the echo loop launched from the same wing and if those devices don't sound familiar it's because amazon puts out experimental stuff all the time and if they don't take off it just quietly moves the products to the dustbin at the other end of the spectrum once upon a time the amazon echo smart speaker was also an experimental invite only product so it's definitely within the realm of possibility that astro takes off amazon execs are already talking about what the astro 2 might be capable of to satisfy my own robot cravings though i want a little bit more in terms of basic functionality having arms and the ability to grip and move objects might be too far away even if samsung is showing it as a concept but what about vacuuming we have robot vacuums now why not put astro on top of one of those so it can serve a dual purpose while it's patrolling your home anyway granted that might make the product bulkier but who cares designers do but i don't again astro is a big step for consumer robots but my favorites add a level of convenience that's what rosie does that's what i want a robot of the future to do and astro doesn't do too much of that yet check out the link below to get on the invite list for astro right good reminder i'll also link to some of my colleagues stories detailing the very real privacy concerns raised by the robots and let me know in the comments what you would want to make a consumer robot seem worthwhile is astro enough for you or are you holding out for rosie thanks for watching please hit that thumbs up button and subscribe to the cnet youtube channel for more and in the meantime you want to be my friendly helper robot that seems extreme but all right i can take a hint thanks for watching\n"