A Redwood City-based startup Mayfield Robotics introduced its first home robot Kuri at CES 2017. Kuri is a 20-inch assistant designed to act as human as possible. It boasts a likable personality, spatial awareness, and a conversational user interface capable of understanding context. Kuri is also able to recognize particular people, offer advice, and automate a broad range of tasks around your house. The robot is priced at $699.99 and available for online pre-orders as of today exclusively in the US. You can pre-order Kuri with a $100 deposit and expect one to be shipped to you during the next holiday season.
Mayfield Robotics is not a new name in the industry. The Californian Firm has so far worked on security, solar, agricultural, industrial, and other types of robots, but it wasn’t until now that it decided to tackle home assistants. Kuri is equipped with various sensors, custom lasers, and contemporary electric motors, all of which enable it to move around its surroundings without any difficulties. The robot also boasts an HD camera, several microphones, and dual speakers, as well as Bluetooth and Wi-Fi adapters. It’s capable of performing all kinds of tasks, from monitoring your house and checking in on pets to playing music, cleaning, and reading an audiobook to your kids at bedtime. Simply speaking, Kuri is a fully fledged robot butler. While Kuri operates autonomously, it can also be controlled manually via a dedicated Android app that’s slated to hit the Google Play Store in Q4 2017. In addition to manual control, the app can be used to program Kuri’s future tasks and review photos and videos the robot has previously taken. Mayfield Robotics claims that Kuri can operate “for hours,” adding that it recharges on its own whenever it needs to. Naturally, the robot is also compatible with most contemporary home automation systems which it can both control and monitor.
Kuri will be showcased at CES 2017, and while the Californian startup is planning to launch it in the US near the end of the year, there’s currently no word on whether this robot will ever be released worldwide. Regardless of that, if you happen to be living in the US and have always dreamed of having a robot butler, Kuri seems like it’s worth a shot.
