Home robots poised for boom in 2016

The robotics industry is poised for a boom in 2016, or so many seem to think. 2015 has been a pivotal year for robots, especially in the home. Many robots that have come out within the last few years are home companions and helpers. That is why the Robotics Business Review put together a report on 16 home robots that could be significant players in the market in 2016.

The companies and products included in the report are new and old, each gaining attention in various ways. The dominant countries in the market are Japan and the US, with South Korea and France getting a couple mentions, as well. China, Spain and Russia each have one product on the list. While China has been focusing a lot on industrial robots lately, the $370 A.I. Nemo from Beijing’s Zaijia gives families a unique way to stay in touch. It is basically a screen and a camera that can be controlled from someone on the other end via a smartphone app so it can move to a specific direction. This is not the most sophisticated robot on the list, but it does solve one pain point of keeping in touch online, which is a limited field of view during video chat.

Screens and faces are a popular theme among the robots on the list. The more capable ones are mounted on wheels that help them get around. In some cases, these wheels are more functional than others. The $1,399 Budgee robot, for example, has a basket that can be loaded with laundry or other items and can follow the user to wherever he or she would like to bring the load. The $1,499 Personal Robot known as Maya comes from a US company, like the Budgee, and displays the portrait of a computer-animated person. The aim is to help people communicate with the robot using facial expressions, a dimension of communication that is generally lost when people interact with machines. Maya is meant to read facial expressions and respond appropriately with its own.

The $1,070 OriHime avatar robot also uses a humanoid form. It is similar to the A.I. Nemo in that someone on the other end of the connection can control the robot’s head to look at different angles, but the person with the robot cannot see the people on the other end. Perhaps one of the most capable robots on the list is the $1,600 Pepper, from France-based company Aldebaran, now owned by Japan’s Softbank. The humanoid robotcan converse with users and move about with 20 degrees of freedom accomplished with motors in the arms, neck, hips, knee and wheels.