We might soon see a walking Alexa.
Within four years of its launch, Amazon’s digital assistant has already established its name across several households. Now, the tech giant is ready to take things a step further by turning Alexa into a robot for homes.
Bloomberg has reported that the development of this robot has already begun and codenamed ‘Vesta’ – the Roman goddess of hearth, home, and family.
The company is planning to deploy the robots in employees’ homes by the end of this year and possibly begin its sale for customers in 2019.
Led by Gregg Zehr, the team behind Vesta is Amazon’s Lab 126 – who were also behind Echo speakers, Fire TV, Fire tablets and the unsuccessful Fire Phone.
As of now, the capabilities of Alexa robot are unclear – whether it would feature moving limbs and help out with the daily chores at houses or just a glorified speaker with a couple of parlor tricks up its sleeve.
Given that the current Alexa in its stationary form (Echo) can only accomplish a limited number of tasks, it’s difficult to imagine what it would be able to do in a mobile form.
Besides, there is always a chance that the project might get scraped like many of Amazon Lab 126’s previous programs. Nevertheless, the idea of living with a personal robot at home seems quite exciting.
So, are you ready to see an Alexa robot in your house? Do tell us in the comments below.
Also Read: Amazon Is Making Its Own AI Chip For Alexa And AWS: Report
