Amazon’s Announced A New Robot That Will Follow You Around The House, And The Jokes Almost Write Themselves

Tesla recently made headlines for CEO Elon Musk’s presentation of the Tesla Bot, which already brings enough The Terminator vibes, even though Musk declared that the Tesla Bot (which can only move up to 5 MPH) is being set “at a mechanical level, at a physical level, that you can run away from it and most likely overpower it.” This, of course, doesn’t mean that Skynet can’t happen in real life, and now, Amazon’s presenting their very own contribution to this realm: the Amazon Astro. Wall Street Journal‘s Joanna Stern tweeted the harbinger out, as one does.

News of this development arrived during Amazon’s fall product event. Among other innovations, the company announced an Amazon Echo-Disney partnership; Amazon Glow (a video calling device tied to gaming for kids); and the availability of the Ring home security drone. And also, that bot, which will run you around $1000 and roam around your house and follow you around, basically as a mobile version of Alexa with cameras and everything. That’s not scary at all! Or maybe it is. Via CNBC, the lowdown:

Astro is equipped with a rotating screen that’s mounted onto a base with wheels. Amazon designed the robot to appear animated and friendly, with eyes and expressive body movements that respond to user interaction.

The robot can move on its own from room to room and is capable of navigating around objects on the floor or braking to avoid colliding with obstacles such as a pet that moves into its path. A periscope camera attached to the base of the device can be raised or lowered to view objects that are high up.

To no one’s surprise (and the delight of some), the joke-floodgates are open.

(Via CNBC)