Finally, a home robot like Rosie from 'The Jetsons'
It's been a busy week at Computex for Zenbo, US computer company ASUS's first-ever home robot. The cute little robot totally stole the show and even met the President of Taiwan. The robot helper, which is surprisingly affordable at US $599, looks and acts much like robots depicted in sci-fi movies or something from "The Jetsons." And as a learning/seeing robot with artificial intelligence, it can be customised to recognise and react to situations around the home.
The BB-8-like machine runs on four-wheels, using sensors to navigate its way around spaces and prevent it from failing down stairs. An oval shape touchscreen features a cute animated cartoon face.Zeno is modelled as a cartoon character with a five-year-old personality and child-like voice – which could prove to become somewhat annoying, but will be a hit with kids.
It functions as a smart home hub, which means it can control all you home media, thermostats, and other smart home features by voice command. It also can recognise faces and objects.
In an 11-minute ad released on Monday (which somewhat obnoxiously plays on stereotypical gender roles), ASUS showcased all of Zenbo's features. Here's what you need to know:
It can alert you to set reminders
It can act out audio-vision-motion skits and tell stories
It can read out recipes
It can recognise and react to emergencies
