Following Google’s recent announcement of their new Google Home, ASUS has just introduced their very own home-assistant-robot-thingy, the ASUS Zenbo.
Honestly, it looks and sounds kind of creepy.
The little bot looks like BB-8 with Wall-E’s head. If you think about that, it should look pretty cute, but it turns out that the combination just doesn’t work. Combine that with the robot’s voice and I found myself more irritated than amused.
Based on the video and short demonstration, the ASUS Zenbo can do a whole bunch of things including managing your home, being your family photographer, kitchen assistant, shopping assistant and much more.
Zenbo will also play music, control various items in your house, record reminders and much more as it moves around the house with you. The way I see it, that’s the biggest benefit. The fact that it can move and follow you around the house means that you will likely only need one Zenbo per household.
It also, supposedly, brings benefits to the elderly but I’m not sure I trust this bot. There’s something rather frightening about Zenbo’s facial expression as it watched the old man fall down in the video.
Couple that with how bossy everyone was being to the poor little robot, it seems like it was only a matter of time before Zenbo becomes the first vanguard in the machine’s rise against humanity.
If you do want to pick one up, the ASUS Zenbo retails for USD599 (around RM2.465).
