With robots and IoT making inroads into manufacturing facilities and logistics, a Mumbai-based start-up has gone one step ahead. The start-up — run by three engineers from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (IIT-B) — aims to introduce the concept of social robots in Indian homes. The 'companion robot', called Miko, serves as a companion to people, especially children.
The three IIT-B graduates, who are launching the advanced version of India's first 'companion robot' Miko on Tuesday, are confident that their latest product will be a game-changer in the industry.
A little over one foot in height, Miko weighs 800 gramme and has a wide pool of knowledge. It effectively communicates with people verbally and even visually by way of displaying emotions such as sadness and happiness. It has motion capabilities and can even swirl and dance.
The emotionally intelligent robot is meant for children above the age of five and is capable of engaging, educating and entertaining children. It can respond when greeted with 'Hey Miko!' The advanced model, codenamed Miko 2, will be even better, said Sneh Vaswani, co-founder of the start-up Emotix, which sells Miko at a price of Rs 19,000.
"We launched Miko in November 2016, which we initially sold from door-to-door before it got to stores. The new robot, which we will be launching on Tuesday, is even more advanced, and the teaser video has already gone viral," said Vaswani, who co-founded Emotix with his batchmates, Prashant Iyengar and Chintan Raikar.
The start-up had noted earlier this year, that a significant portion of its customers belonged to tier-II and tier-III towns and the robot was not being marketed as a toy. It was being sold through consumer electronic stores across India.
The founders had also noted that it was not seeking to replace human interactions but, to provide a better technological interface that children have access to in this age. The company will not limit itself to customers within India and plans to cater to customers worldwide following its launch on Tuesday.
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