We wrote about Amazon’s Astro earlier this week. Gizmodo wrote about Astro, too, but it reminded them of the previous attempts at home robots. Their list of “adorable dead robots” included Kuri, a Bosch offering.
Bosch is the parent company of Rexroth and, since Rexroth acquired Indramat, therefore the…well…maybe the stepparent company of Indramat as well as the driving force behind Kuri.
You probably don’t remember Kuri.
A companion robot
Kuri was intended for home use, and designed to simulate real emotional connections with human beings. For example, it had sensors on its head. If you patted it, it would look up at you and “chirp affirmingly.” We’re not completely sure what it would mean to make affirming chirping noises, but we guess people would probably like it.
It had cameras in its eyes so it could show you what was going on at your house when you weren’t there. The Astro suggests that this will let it warn you about intruders or check on elderly relatives, but Kuri forthrightly said you could “let Kuri be your eyes around the house when you’re not there.” Spy on your family or your pets!
Kuri had microphones, too, so you could have sound with your live-streaming. Kuri could locate sounds, too, and turn his/her head to face you when you spoke to her/him (the website alternated pronouns).
Kuri even had a color-changing light where his/her heart would be, to clue you in to the emotions your little robot companion might be feeling.
What happened to Kuri?
There were $700 pre-sales, but Kuri never got rolled out. Bosch, according to Gizmodo, couldn’t raise the money from backers.
It was cute, but not successful. Kuri got cancelled and the company refunded the pre-orders.
Cuteness is not what we prize most in a robot. We want it to be able to construct or pick or pack or print things. If you used Indramat motion control systems and your machinery isn’t picking and packing and printing the way you want, we can help. We are the people to call for any Indramat support or service needs.