In an unexpected move, Apple’s “next big thing,” following the cancellation of its long-running ‘Apple Car’ project, is reportedly “personal robotics.”
But what does that actually mean?
Details remain scarce, but according to Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman, at least one of these projects involves an iRobot-sounding mobile robot capable of following “users around their homes,” while another is an “advanced table-top home device that uses robotics to move a display around.”
It’s unclear what form the latter device takes (though I can’t help but imagine a robot that looks like the image above), but the former sounds like a smart display capable of moving around, similar to Amazon’s Echo Show 10 or Belkin’s iPhone Auto-Tracking Stand Pro.
Apple has reportedly encountered issues with balancing the weight of the device’s robotic motor on a small stand. Rumours regarding a similar-sounding HomePod/smart display-like device have appeared in the past.
Gurman says Apple plans to utilize artificial intelligence algorithms to help its robots navigate people’s homes and that the tech giant aims to create a robot capable of doing the dishes. However, the often-reliable tech reporter also says this likely won’t happen for several years due to “extraordinarily difficult engineering challenges.”
You can find Bloomberg’s full report here.
Image credit: Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
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