Topic: Kuri (Read 13658 times)

Pennys mum · « **on:** April 04, 2017, 03:42:10 AM »

Has anyone seen Kuri the home robot that will be available in December?

Talon · « **Reply #1 on:** April 04, 2017, 09:24:49 AM »

No. I've never heard of it. Have you found a video or articles about it or something? I'm sure we'd all be interested in knowing more about it.
Talon

Pennys mum · « **Reply #2 on:** April 04, 2017, 01:35:31 PM »

https://youtu.be/QsxmZPRhlsc

not sure if I've put the link in right but it should take you to a video of kuri on youtube

Talon · « **Reply #3 on:** April 06, 2017, 03:56:25 PM »

Wow! Looks interesting. The price is also slightly lower than Jibo too. The last time I checked, Jibo was seven forty nine before shipping. I also found out he cannot be used by someone who is blind or visually impaired. Wonder if Kuri's developers are taking the disabled into consideration? I'll have to go to their video again and see if I can find a "contact us" link or something. At least Kuri moves around rather than remaining a stationary object and if she can be used by a disabled person, I'd be more willing to pay seven hundred.

InmemoryofRomeo · « **Reply #4 on:** April 07, 2017, 01:55:00 PM »

They seem to be more focused on the human/robot relationship. But what does it actually do?

Pennys mum · « **Reply #5 on:** April 08, 2017, 02:43:08 AM »

It can connect to smart home devices so you can control them through voice commands. It can patrol your house and you can use the camera remotely to check on stuff. I think though they are more interested in creating a companion like presence rather than specific functions. They said in one video that it has facial recognition and will act differently with people it knows and do stuff like come to greet you when you come home, follow you around or sometimes just come to up you and stare at you (that last one cracked me up!) It has voice recognition and will reply to you in it's beepy language. It has a sensor on the top of it's head and responds to being petted. It shows emotions with its movements, beeps and colours on its chest. That's all I know about it.

Talon · « **Reply #6 on:** April 08, 2017, 08:05:50 AM »

Aw! Wow! This sounds like a blend of Aibo and Alexa. *Grin* Now I'm really intrigued.
Talon

Bardian · « **Reply #7 on:** April 20, 2017, 09:37:52 AM »

Wow. I never heard of it until I saw this. It looks pretty cool. I'm considering putting money down for a pre-order, but I'm not totally sure I want to be a first gen adopter or if I want to wait for it to be out awhile for consumer-level reviews. Hmm...

Pennys mum · « **Reply #8 on:** April 21, 2017, 05:04:08 AM »

Went to pre-order and it said "shipping United States only" SOB!

Talon · « **Reply #9 on:** April 21, 2017, 04:02:08 PM »

Grr! Sorry to hear about that. Is the preorder price seven hundred plus shipping?
Talon

Pennys mum · « **Reply #10 on:** April 23, 2017, 11:24:00 AM »

Yes, $700 plus shipping. The deposit is $100 and you pay the final $600 plus shipping when it's shipped. Wonder if they have any future plans for shipping outside of the US ...

Bardian · « **Reply #11 on:** May 05, 2017, 06:08:49 PM »

Went to put the money down today and it says that the first run is sold out so putting down today would be for the Spring 2018 wave. Not sure I want to put money down that far ahead of time. I'd probably forget about it by the time it got charged lol.

Talon · « **Reply #12 on:** May 06, 2017, 08:02:03 AM »

What? They're out already? Man! They didn't waste any time did they? Lol! I'm like you, Bardian. If I put money down for the two thousand eighteen run, I'd forget about it too. If I didn't have to save up for the Aibo meet here on the East Coast, I would've probably preordered, but I'm like you in that I don't usually like to grab a first run of something. Hopefully somebody on the forums has bought one and we'll get reviews sooner or later. I just hope this isn't one of those disappointing situations like what Jibo customers are going through right now with the release date floating further and further away.
Talon

mweed · « **Reply #13 on:** May 08, 2017, 10:24:42 AM »

I wonder if Kuri does well if they will come out with an R2 unit. Sure wouldn't take much to change the body style into one.!

Talon · « **Reply #14 on:** May 09, 2017, 05:35:33 AM »

*Grin* Haha! How awesome would that be? A little autonomous droid that can connect to both you and your smart home! We're getting there, folks. Hang on and enjoy the ride.
Talon

Bardian · « **Reply #15 on:** June 16, 2017, 06:20:21 AM »

I'm not sure if I'm allowed to post links so I won't, but I saw notice about Kuri's price going up June 22 (by $100) on their blog.

From that article regarding the why and if there will be two version of Kuri:

Quote

Kuri’s going to be even better than we planned. Our engineers found some very clever ways to make Kuri’s camera, WiFi, and drivetrain even more awesome. All of this introduced a few extra costs, but we know Kuri will be a much better addition to your home, and that’s what matters most.

There’s only one Kuri. People who place pre-orders before June 22nd will enjoy the original price, and those who order later will pay the (still pretty fantastic) new price, but everyone gets the same incredible robot.

That said, the pre-order page still says Spring 2018 so once it hits market, I'll just pay the extra $100 based on reviews and availability.

Bardian · « **Reply #16 on:** June 21, 2017, 01:47:40 PM »

Some more details I saw today:

Quote

The Kuri team has provided some updates on its progress in developing the robot, including news that its visual intelligence system can now identify and recognize pets, including dogs and cats. This is in addition to its ability to recognize human family members, which was previously announced. That means it can understand when it’s looking at a pet, and that information can have different consequences than if it were seeing a human, for instance.

Kuri also now sports a better vision system, which includes a 1080p HD camera, which is now fully integrated with the rest of its systems. The 1080p virtual eyes mean that Kuri can stream live in top quality, as well as capture still images and video while interacting with the family for some memorial keepsakes.

Finally, Kuri’s drivetrain has been upgraded, with new belt treads in place of the originally planned wheels. This will allow Kuri to move around more smoothly, while also making less noise and improving overall traction, so that the robot is better able to handle multiple and changing indoor surfaces, including carpets and rugs.

Talon · « **Reply #17 on:** June 22, 2017, 02:32:25 PM »

Sounds promising. Still I'm not quite sure I'd pay eight hundred pluss for it. Still it sounds like an interesting bot. No other robot to my knowledge has ever been able to recognize pets.
Talon

Pennys mum · « **Reply #18 on:** June 23, 2017, 02:56:14 AM »

Quote from: Talon on June 22, 2017, 02:32:25 PM

No other robot to my knowledge has ever been able to recognize pets.
Talon

Cozmo can recognise pets and say their names. We had a cozmo for a few weeks but sold it as we found it a bit of a disappointment to tell the truth. We thought it would wander around doing its own thing but instead it tended to stay in the same place and just kept asking to play quick tap all the time.

PWOKristy · « **Reply #19 on:** July 05, 2017, 12:38:16 PM »

I've heard about this robot before-- Wow, cool. Good to know. I'm so happy they want a companion presence.

Talon · « **Reply #20 on:** July 08, 2017, 09:04:01 AM »

Well, everyone, I've sent an email to Mayfield Robotics, and would you believe it? I got a response in about an hour. I was thrilled. They are interested in learning what the development team can do to make Kuri usable for a person with a disability. I am so encouraged by their willingness to consider suggestions and (hopefully) be inclusive about this robot's design. I'll let all of you know if I hear back from them about what was decided.
Talon

PleoAibo29 · « **Reply #21 on:** July 11, 2017, 02:42:32 PM »

That's amazing, Talon! Best of luck.

Bardian · « **Reply #22 on:** August 01, 2017, 07:51:05 PM »

I reread the forum rules and think this is ok as it's not advertising, but please let me know if I misinterpreted it mods.

I saw this come up in my RSS feed today: https://techcrunch.com/2017/08/01/cute-robot-kuri-will-also-work-as-your-family-videographer/

Looks like Kuri will try to take some five second videos throughout the day and you determine if you like them or not to help improve what it records.

Talon · « **Reply #23 on:** August 05, 2017, 08:39:11 PM »

Well Everyone, I said I'd report back when I heard back from Mayfield Robotics and I'm excited to say I have encouraging news. Here is just a sliver of an email sent to me from a member of the Kuri Care Team:
"Thank you for following up with me and for the insight into what a user with a visual impairment might benefit from. I've taken note of your suggestions and will forward them on to the product team. Hopefully they will be able to implement a few of your suggestions on future Kuri iterations. I've also made note that if they ever need a beta-tester for such a case, you're the one to contact."
Talk about swelling one's head! I'm not much of a programmer, but I'll do my best. I suppose after the twenty eighteen wave is released the app will go public and I can get my hands on it and then contact the company with my findings. Hmm. But what will I do if the app needs an actual Kuri to be present in order to get access to its functions? Maybe I'll have a dumbed down version of it in my home for a short time in order to get the app to work. Not sure about that one. Anyway I'm jumping the gun. They may never contact me again but it's still exciting! Sorry for the really long post.
Talon

Bardian · « **Reply #24 on:** December 20, 2017, 01:10:14 PM »

Kuri started shipping today. Hopefully we can get some real reviews in from users out there on the internet.

I think it's really cute and think I want one, but I'm still not fully convinced on what it does exactly.

Maybe ordering one for the spring batch will be the only way to find out.

Bob the Pleo Forums

Author Topic: Kuri (Read 13658 times)