Las-Vegas-based robotics company Realbotix is developing these Echo robots. These are companionship robots, imbued with AI software designed to carry conversations. To cut down on costs, the 'bots are just a head and torso, absent expensive joints and limbs.
Four models are in the works, named Aria, Mila, Dave and Amar. "Every Echo talks, listens, and reacts with a personality of its own," the company writes. Their silicone-skinned faces are said to be lifelike, their voices natural-sounding. Here's what one of the things looks and sounds like, supposedly—this appears to be AI video rather than actual footage:
The head-and-torso robots run $11,950. They'll also sell you a full-body one for $59,950, but it's not clear what they can do beyond move their arms.
Moreover, none of these 'bots, in their base configurations, can actually see you, recognize you and meet your eyes; for that you'd need to tack on the optional $24,950 vision system, which sticks cameras in their peepers.
And of course, there's a subscription involved:
The $20/month Base plan gets you just 10 hours of conversation.
The $40/month Plus plan gets you 40 hours of chatter, "more expressive voices," 100-plus languages or accents, and the ability to "edit" your 'bot's personality.
The $200/month Enterprise plan gets you 100 hours of talk, the "smartest" AI model, the ability to create your own characters and hook it up to your own AI models.
The company is taking $200 reservations now and says they'll ship next year.