
The company behind the adorably doomed robot Kuri is shutting down - evo_9
https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2018/8/21/17765330/mayfield-robotics-kuri-robot-shutting-down
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derekdahmer
I got a demo of Kuri at CES from one of the founders and loved it, it’s kind
of like a friendly Alexa on wheels. The killer feature IMO is it can send you
videos of it interacting with your pets and small children over the course of
the day. If you use Timehop it’s the same sort of feeling.

I think something like Kuri could be successful at $200-300 price point but
not the $700 preorder price they listed. I bet we’ll see a low cost clone of
this in the next few years.

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technobabble
Besides the Kuri, what else that is currently on the market the closest
equivalent to an Alexa on wheels?

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iampims
[https://www.anki.com/en-us/vector](https://www.anki.com/en-us/vector)

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applecrazy
This company had a large booth at Maker Faire Bay Area this year. While the
robot was cute and the tech inside impressive (full 3D SLAM!), I didn’t see a
market for a home robot just yet, given that people have just gotten used to
devices like Alexa (and especially at their price point).

I’m not sure if they had an SDK to develop integrations on top, but if they
had such an ecosystem I think I would pick up one for home use to hack upon.

A bit disappointed they had to shut down before they had a proper product.

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jpm_sd
While it's clear that both Kuri and Jibo were far too expensive, I am
wondering whether there is a market for a "home entertainment" robot at any
price. What are they for?

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evo_9
Home entertainment no, and even the dubious 'security' guard angle that Kuri
and Jibo had which was basically just a roaming camera keeping an on your
place, not compelling enough at that price.

People would pay real dollars for a home robot that did basic choirs but so
far that hasn't been the focus. Maybe it's too hard of a problem to solve
still, or maybe they overvalued the usefulness of an entertainment robot, or
maybe it's a bit of both. I just hope this doesn't kill the dream of a truly
useful home robot.

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jonathankoren
I own a roomba, and while I can’t say it’s great, it at least does something
useful. The Alexa with wheels isn’t very compelling, because the mobility
aspect doesn’t add anything. These robots don’t even have a tray to carry
drinks on. From that perspective they’re less useful than a HeathKit HERO [0]
or an OmniBot[1].

[0]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HERO_(robot)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HERO_\(robot\))

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omnibot](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omnibot)

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bfuller
I own a roomba and I do think it's great. Why dont you like it?

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jonathankoren
I own two, and use them regularly. They're not a gimmick, but they do have
lots of room for improvement.

They're very inefficient. Perhaps the 980 with the camera is better at
mapping, but my 880 and an ancient 551 feel like they take hours to clean a
single room. Granted, _I_ can do something else entirely while it wastes time,
but it feels weird. (I simply take them from room to room and lock them in for
an hour or two, and then move them. I don't want to waste all day with the
bots cleaning my house, and I've learned I can't trust them not to get into
trouble by themselves.)

Also, they're not the most powerful vacuums. They're fine for regular
maintenance cleaning, but they can't replace a regular vacuum.

Now if only I can find a robot to dust...

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rajacombinator
“Adorably doomed” implies something about its doomed status is adorable...

