A new robot’s UI is body language
Futurewave’s Furny robot communicates in part with head tilts, gestures and posture.
The newest idea for an emotionally expressive home robot is coming out of Belgium.
A creative product studio called Futurewave is developing a manufacturable product design concept called Furny. A manufacturing partner called Fable is building the product, which they’ll call the FE-0. (Furny is the concept, FE-0 is the product brand.)
Like a fat and lazy dog, the Furny doesn’t do any work around the house. Instead, its robotics are aimed at body language communication.
When it wants to communicate, the robot communicates with body language, including head tilts, posture shifts, directional changes, and gestures.
Fable is taking the product’s functionality further, adding a screen, two-way voice interaction and mobility (it will navigate around your house, apparently).
Plus, it has a screen that displays notifications (like calendar events and the weather), the status of the camera and microphone, and possibly others.
The Furny concept and the FE-0 product are neither humanoid nor animalesque. They’re designed to be “cute,” with a personality.
Like other products I’ve written about (Casio’s Moflin, Mission AI’s Unee, Euvola, Tuya Smart and Robopoet’s Fuzozo, Lovense’s Emily and Ludens AI’s Cocomo and INU, Honor ‘Robot Phone,’ Lenovo’s AI Workmate Concept, Apple’s ELEGNT project, and Apple’s rumored J595 desktop robot) the Furny and FE-0 are Attachment Economy products, using AI to feign sentience so that you’ll feel emotionally attached to them.
I’ll keep you posted on these projects as they move closer to availability.
