@rowancheung: iRobot co-founder Colin Angle, whose company sold over 50 million Roombas, has unveiled his new venture, Familiar Machines & Magic. Its first product is a furry, bear-like quadruped robot with 23 motorized joints, a touch-sensitive coat, cameras, and microphones. The robot communicates through expressive movements rather than speech. A custom onboard AI gives it personality and memory while keeping user data off the cloud. Beyond companionship, it aims to reinforce healthy routines, like limiting screen time. Angle compares its cost to pet ownership, targeting sales next year. Whether it can sustain long-term engagement, where past social robots failed, remains the big question.

Darin_Burger :

its for surveillance plain and simple.

Jabilo Bearly :

if they do a grizzly bear version. ❤️

Cuddlebuns :

it feeds on your data / soul

Lior Aizler :

Why robot? Just get a dog

￴ ￴ ￴￴ ￴￴￴ ￴￴￴￴ ￴￴ ￴￴￴ ￴￴ ￴￴ :

or just rescue a real animal

iamaimeelizabeth :

Ummmmmmm

Susan Cortes :

if it can also call 911 in case of emergencies then it would be the perfect companion for elderly folks

cdnsurfing🇨🇦 :

Healthcare, food, housing... anyone?;

mothersuperior :

please just adopt actual pets, it's rewarding - they love you back 🙏🏽

mat :

It’s so ugly tho

Xyz :

I think there are studies that support their use with dementia patients in the community. Keeps them happier and occupied.

.mitsool1 :

Omg these are adorable

Grant :

Costs comparable to a pet!? So it includes vet bills and surprise sums you need to pay suddenly 😂

BigMcLargeHuge- :

I’ve seen this before. What was her name? Megan… ya Megan

67 :

We are closer to dystopian

Mika :

It feels like a spy 😳

caboco.inc :

"hey yall, she goes home and pets her robot"

_ :

AI? Why are we not using our brains anymore?

Predator :

they copied the simpsons

Justkuronekoo :

as someone who wants a dog badly, I want this, but I'll wait until it's commercially available everywhere..first lesson in tech, you don't want to be the first customer in a pioneering product

ink blot :

will it vacuum?

abbieandthebee :

We are so sad dude. Humanity needs something to really lift us up 😭

Брынза :