Amazon developing a ROBOT called Vesta that will roam your house on wheels
Amazon is inching closer to making a wheeled robotic assistant that can be controlled via its Echo smart speakers.
In a report from Bloomberg, sources from Amazon say the company has pulled engineers off of other projects to develop the bot — a show of faith that indicates Amazon may soon look to bring the wheeled-assistant to market.
The robot, called ‘Vesta’, is controlled by Amazon’s voice assistant, Alexa, and measures about waist-high according to Bloomberg.
It’s unclear exactly what the intended purpose of the device would be, though speculation is that the bot would be a kind of mobile Echo, bringing the Alexa capabilities with users around their home.
Helping the bot on its transient journey around one’s home will be an array of cameras that use computer vision to navigate their environment.
Bloomberg reports that an Amazon employee was able to summon the robot using voice-commands in a demonstration.
Despite the ramp up in efforts to bring the robot to fruition, it’s unclear whether Vesta –which is named for the Roman goddess for the home and domestic life — will actually make it to Amazon’s product lineup. The robot was first reported by Bloomberg last year and was met with denial by an Amazon spokesperson who told the outlet that the company doesn’t comment on ‘rumors and speculation.’
For Vesta, Amazon’s timing may be particularly ominous.
Other similar home robots were decommissioned in 2018 including the Jibo and Kuri.
Unlike Vesta, however, Jibo and Kuri were sedentary and also offered were marketed as companions, injecting a dose of personality into their list of functions.
For instance: Jibo was able to play word games and Kuri purred when its users patted it on the head.
Courtesy : Daily Mail