Aido home robot plays with kids and controls smart appliances

Aido is a new personal robot that has turned up at Indiegogo and looks a bit like Wall-E's girlfriend Eve if she were much taller and had a hunched back. Aido is designed to do all sorts of things for you inside your home and is packed with sensors, microphones, and can have a projector. The bot has six different microphones to help it hear and understand voice commands in noisy environments.

Haptic sensors are able to recognize and respond to touch. Custom responses to touch activated controls can be programmed in. Sensors help Aido avoid obstacles and the bot balances on an omni-directional ball that allows it to move freely around the home. Tasks that the robot can perform include looking up recipes and displaying them on its screen/face.

An integrated projector can be added to throw games or streaming video onto walls and other surfaces for entertainment. That projector is a $199 add-on to the purchase price of the robot. An internal 2-inch woofer and speakers handle sound. Face detection allows Aido to recognize members of your family. The bot can also recognize scenes around the home and transcribe the scenes to sentences.

Other features of the bot include object recognition and the ability to control smart appliances. TVs and other IR devices can also be controlled via the bot with support for ZWave, dlna, ZigBee, Bluetooth, and Wifi controllable items. Aido has a security mode to keep the home safe and can be controlled via an app. The Indiegogo project was seeking $75,000 and has raised over $336,000 at the time of writing. The Aido Classic is selling for $549 with delivery set for October 2016. A smart home kit with controllable light bulbs costs $75, the projector adds $199, and the smart charging dock adds $199. A premium Aido with all accessories is $940.

SOURCE: indiegogo