Asus has expanded its product lines of PCs, monitors, and tablets by announcing its new Zenbo home robot at the Computex trade show in Taipei on May 30, Monday. The $599 white sphere uses its wheels to follow its owner around like a Star Wars droid. In addition, the cute robot can help people cook breakfast and read children's stories.
A metal arm attaches the anthropomorphic robot's head with eyes and mouth to the orb. The oval screen on the face includes a built-in display.
The robot face also includes a camera that uses facial recognition tech to detect faces, and captures photos and videos.
An app also allows the friendly robot to provide remote home monitoring to help keep homes safe. Asus believes the monitoring feature will be very useful for senior citizens as the robot could contact an emergency number if there is a situation such as when someone has fallen down, according to PC Magazine.
Some of Zenbo's abilities are built in including interactive games, children's books, and a full encyclopedia. However, others need apps.
Zenbo shares features of Softbank's Pepper humanoid robots that can detect emotions based on facial expressions and voice tones. However, Asus' robot is almost one-third of Pepper's $1,700 price tag.
Meanwhile, Zenbo's artificial intelligence (AI) works like Amazon Echo and Google Home. It uses voice command tech to respond to humans and includes a built-in speaker to play favorite jams.
The Taiwanese tech company claims that the main selling point of the two foot-high Zenbo is as a personal assistant that takes care of family members. However, it can also stream movies and make video calls, according to Computerworld.
Asus Chairman Jonney Shih showed off the new robot at a Computex press conference. He demoed the bot by giving voice commands and asking questions.
The chairman asked Zenbo if it can take pictures. After he requested the robot to take a picture of him and include the audience in the background, Zenbo snapped the photo.
Shih shared the company wants to add robotic computers to every home.
Asus has not released any details about when Zenbo will hit the retail market. A spokesman shared that the company wants developers to register for a software kit so they can build applications.