Asus has unveiled Zenbo, a family robot, which is most likely going to be the most talked about product at this week’s Computex trade show scheduled to take place in Taipei. Priced at $599, this cute robot has much to offer.
The company has pitched their robot as a personal assistant which could help in taking care of the elderly and reading stories to small children, however, we think that this is selling the robot short of what its real capabilities are.
Zenbo is two feet high and moves around by rolling on the wheels located at its bottom. It has a display which can be used for viewing its animated face or other functionalities like making video calls, streaming videos etc.
Asus Chairman, Jonney Shih took to the stage at a press conference in Taipei on Monday and demonstrated the Zenbo giving it questions and voice commands as it rolled around on the stage.
“Hey Zenbo, is it true you can take pictures”? he asked.
“Yes, I can take photographs,” the robot replied.
He then went ahead and told Zenbo to take his photograph with the audience at the back, a command which the robot followed without an issue. This was definitely an impressive demonstration until and unless Zenbo was somehow controlled by a remote control from the backstage.
The robot also attempted to try to answer general knowledge questions.
“Hey, Zenbo, who is smarter, Leonardo Da Vinci or Albert Einstein?” Shih asked at one point.
“I’m sorry, I do not know the answer, but I will continue to work on my knowledge,” Zenbo said.
“For decades, humans have dreamed of owning such a companion: one that is smart, dear to our hearts, and always at our disposal,” Shih said. “Our ambition is to enable robotic computing for every household.”
You can watch this interesting video on Zenbo.
Photo Credits: Asus
