Vector, Anki's New Home Robot Sure Is Cute. But Can It Survive?

[Narrator] Meet Vector.

Part toy, part kitchen timer

and powered by artificial intelligence.

It's the smarter, more mature version

of Cozmo, Anki robotics toy for children.

Vector is meant to be an always on companion

that wanders your counter top,

mapping obstacles and listening for commands.

It's the latest in a line of super cute robotic helpers.

But it's arriving at an awkward time.

Just last month, Mayfield Robotics,

which makes the Kuri home robot,

announced it was pausing operations

and refunding pre-order deposits.

The maker of Jibo, a stationary home robot,

has reportedly laid off the majority of its staff.

Which makes you wonder.

Do people even want these things?

Sweet little Vector here is about to find out.

(robotic sounds)

Think of Vector like a less creepy Amazon Alexa.

You can ask it for the weather

or get information like the distance between cities

if you're into that sort of thing.

One hundred and fifty-eight miles.

Yes, the robot comes equipped with a camera,

both so it can navigate and notice your face.

But that also lets it project a personality.

(electronic whirring sounds)

He will, when he sees you, get excited

that he sees you and he will do that proactively.

So far it's still the case that if a home assistant

would do that, it feels like an appliance.

It's weird if that's being done.

[Narrator] A big part of the charm is the eye animations

designed by former Pixar wizards.

Weirdly, eye contact is really important

when humans communicate with machines.

Hey, Vector.

If we don't do things like eye contact really well-

How frequently does the robot make eye contact

with a person or how long does it keep that eye contact?

Then something what feels like an alive character

immediately feels not alive.

[Narrator] Where this gets tricky is when powerful

non verbal communication, like eye contact,

starts sending the wrong signals.

Namely, Anki has to be careful not

to over promise on Vector's abilities.

If a machine seems intelligent in one way,

like dexterity or mobility, folks starting assuming

it's more capable than it actually is.

Which gets even more complicated with verbal communication.

The makers of Kuri deliberately designed their robot

to speak in beeps and boops,

so people wouldn't overestimate what it can do.

Vector on the other hand speaks English

because the whole point is for it

to be your helpful home companion.

The distance is approximately 400 and fifty-eight miles.

If you can only make bleeps and beeps and so forth

that might be cute, but then (pause)

having the robot tell you, I don't know,

about the weather or news or a message

somebody left for you more so becomes impossible.

[Narrator] Yes, the voice is perhaps a bit

over the top robotic and potentially grating.

[Hanns] What are the ingredients of a margherita?

I don't get that.

[Narrator] And yes, Vector can screw up

like any machine.

Hey, Vector. (Vector dings)

But unlike Alexa, Let's do a fist bump.

[Narrator] It's got serious charm.

What character allows us to do is to

have people change from,

Well, this is annoying that

this robot made a mistake, to,

Oh, it's adorable, that the robot made a mistake

as long as the major things are all functioning.

[Narrator] In testing the charm appears to be working.

If you pet the top of Vector's head,

for instance, it coos and wiggles.

And we've literally seen testing people

sitting there for 45 minutes or an hour or longer

while they watch a movie or so the entire time,

just petting their robot.

[Narrator] But you might be wondering, Why now?

Why are all these advanced robots suddenly vying

to infiltrate the American home?

It's a confluence of two factors:

advanced processing and advanced AI.

Vector's processing happens onboard the robot

where in the past you had to do it

on more powerful computers in the cloud.

That lets it do things like run a highly efficient

neural network to detect faces and navigate

its environment all on it's own.

Processors are finally cheap enough to

make a home robot feasible.

Or at least that's what Anki hopes.

Vector will hit the market at 250 dollars.

Jibo, by contrast, was nearly 1,000 dollars.

If your cell phone costs 900 dollars

and my robot costs 1200 dollars,

then the expectation is that this thing

can do a lot more useful things than my cell phone.

And finding that fine line between cost

and functionality and character

I think is a really big deal.

I definitely think people are ready for a home robot.

I think it just depends on

what can it do and what do people expect from it.

[Narrator] For now, Vector can't do a whole lot,

but Anki plan to add capabilities like

a security camera feature after its October launch.

Whether or not Vector can charm its way

into homes across America is yet to be seen.

Just be sure to mind your spoons.