CES is underway in the U.S. at the moment, and while the hot topic of this year’s big technology show is AI, robots still made their presence known in Las Vegas. We’ve rounded up the four robots that made CES 2024 all the better.
1. Ballie’s back!
Everyone loves Ballie, Samsung’s adorable ball-shaped robot that it wheels out from time to time that it’s totally going to release at some point one day. This time around, though, Ballie is a mobile projector, with AI capabilities built-in. He can handle phone calls, smart home requests, and can feed your pet. Seriously, look at this video, I love Ballie! Release date? Nah. Cute robot? Yes.
2. LG’s Rosie
Less cute than Ballie, but still fairly adorable, LG revealed ‘Rosie’ at CES 2024, a smart home robot that travels around your house, helping out with day-to-day tasks and talking to compatible smart home tech. LG’s idea for Rosie ties into a ‘Zero Labor Home’ concept, which it presented alongside a focus on AI and IOT. Rosie can act as a pet monitor and a home hall monitor, but it can also remind you to take your pills. Cute!
3. The Mirokai anime bot
Ok, these assistants on wheels have been pretty cool so far, but what about an anime-isnpired robot? Meet Mirokai, a robot built by Enchanted Tools. It’s a logistics bot with a cat-like face (and Shrek-like ears?), four-finger hands, and a ball to roll on. The creators pitch Mirokai as a robot that’ll help nurses to move equipment and medical tools. The hope is that a nurse can just say something like “Hey robot, move this to this room,” to get Mirokai to perform an action, and the company is hoping the robot will be put into nursing homes, airports, malls, and restaurants. Cute… But creepy!
4. Ogmen Robotics’s Oro pet companion pet
Sure, robots can be our companions, but what about a companion for your pet? Queue – Oro! Built by Ogmen robots, Oro is built to be a self-moving pet toy, that can play with your pets when you’re not around, and dispense treats when required. It does this by looking like a vacuum cleaner with a tablet stuck to it, and supposedly maps the floor of your home with lidar-based tech. Cool! If a little unnecessary.
Man, I love robots. There weren’t as many goofy ones this year as there normally are (I guess everybody is too busy talking about AI) but I appreciate the above four.
Image: Enchanted Tools on YouTube