Vector by Anki Is a Tiny Robot Assistant Now on Kickstarter

Personal home assistants, like the Amazon Echo and Google Home, are great and all, but they just sit on your shelf like lazy know-it-alls. Wouldn’t it be much cooler if your home assistant were a cute robot that could drive around, like an athletic know-it-all? Well, you’re in luck, because Anki has launched a Kickstarter campaign for their new Vector robot that does just that!

Vector is a robot that’s small enough to fit in your hand, and the little guy is, frankly, overwhelmingly adorable. It looks like a little black bulldozer that has been inhabited with the spirit of an android porg. It can do the same sorts of things that Alexa, Siri, and Cortana do: answer questions, set timers, and control IoT devices. It’s “face” is also a high-res, full-color, IPS LCD screen, so it can show you visual information, à la Amazon Echo Show. But, obviously, the real selling point of Vector is that it’s a robot.

Using tiny tank tracks, it can zip about on your counter and shove things around, and then return to it’s charging station. It has an on-board 120 degree camera, and uses a neural network to process those visuals to navigate and detect objects and people. Basically, if you like the idea of a personal home assistant, but want one that is charming and can drive around, Vector is for you.

The Kickstarter campaign is running until September 7th, and is already close to reaching 50% of the funding goal. You can snag a Vector for $199, and rewards are expected to ship in October.