Vector Home Robot

How about a virtual pet that’s also a robot that can take commands? Anki’s follow-up bot to the Cozmo desk toy is the Vector, a literal robot on wheels that follows you around like a robot vacuum with a plan. It runs on a Snapdragon processor and has a 120-degree HD camera to look around, plus a handful of microphones to hear you, an infrared laser scanner to map the room, and a six-axis inertial measurement unit to navigate the perilous world we brought it into.

The Vector is capable of doing a few things. It’s charming and expressive, but it also relies on you to command it, akin to a smart display. You can say, “Hey Vector” to snap photos, set a timer, and check the weather forecast. It can also fist bump you and play a round of blackjack. Or you can have Vector dance along to some tunes.

Anki shut down since launching this robot, but Digital Dream Labs took over shortly after. It’s since introduced the Vector Escape Pod, which lets the Vector robot function independently of the cloud service the robot uses so that you still get voice commands without the internet. Tinkerers might also love the idea of programming a Raspberry Pi to host the Vector on a home server.

The Vector was $250 when it launched in 2018. But now you’ll find listings where it starts around $600. There is a waitlist for the next potential batch release, but preorders are closed for the so-called Vector 2.0. The Escape Pod and other open-source development kits range between $97 and $197.