Engineers at Apple have been exploring a mobile robot that can follow users around their homes, sources told Bloomberg.
Apple is under growing pressure to find new sources of revenue after scrapping its EV project, and amid a nascent foray into mixed-reality goggles. Apple has teams investigating a push into personal robotics, a field with the potential to become one of the company’s ever-shifting “next big things”, according to people familiar with the situation.
Engineers at Apple have been exploring a mobile robot that can follow users around their homes, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the skunk-works project is private. The iPhone maker also has developed an advanced table-top home device that uses robotics to move a display around, they said.
Though the effort is still in the beginning stages – and it’s unclear if the products will ultimately be released – Apple is under growing pressure to find new sources of revenue. It scrapped an electric vehicle project in February, and a push into mixed-reality goggles is expected to take years to become a major moneymaker.
With robotics, Apple could gain a bigger foothold in consumers’ homes and capitalize on advances in artificial intelligence. But it’s not yet clear what approach it might take. Though the robotic smart display is much further along than the mobile bot, it has been added and removed from the company’s product roadmap over the years, according to the people. Apple has teams investigating a push into personal robotics, a field with the potential to become one of the company’s ever-shifting “next big things”, according to people familiar with the situation.
Engineers at Apple have been exploring a mobile robot that can follow users around their homes, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the skunk-works project is private. The iPhone maker also has developed an advanced table-top home device that uses robotics to move a display around, they said.
Though the effort is still in the beginning stages – and it’s unclear if the products will ultimately be released – Apple is under growing pressure to find new sources of revenue. It scrapped an electric vehicle project in February, and a push into mixed-reality goggles is expected to take years to become a major moneymaker. Apple investors reacted coolly to the news, with the stock paring earlier gains after Bloomberg reported on the robotics work. It was up less than 1 per cent at US$169.65 at the close in New York. Shares of Roomba maker iRobot, meanwhile, briefly jumped as much as 17 per cent – a sign investors thought it might benefit from Apple’s interest in the field. But the rally faded, and the stock gained less than 2 per cent by the close.
Before the EV project was cancelled, Apple told its top executives that the company’s future revolved around three areas: automotive, the home and mixed reality. But now the car isn’t happening and Apple has already released its first mixed-reality product, the Vision Pro headset. So the focus has shifted to other future opportunities, including how Apple can better compete in the smart home market.
The table-top robotics project first excited senior Apple executives a few years ago, including hardware engineering chief John Ternus and members of the industrial design team. The idea was to have the display mimic the head movements – such as nodding – of a person on a FaceTime session. It would also have features to precisely lock on to a single person in a crowd during a video call.
However, the company has been concerned about whether consumers would be willing to pay top dollar for such a device. There have also been technical challenges related to balancing the weight of a robotic motor on a small stand. The primary obstacle has been disagreement among Apple executives over whether to move forward with the product at all, according to the people.
