In 2020 I recorded a podcast episode entitled “Why do all social robots fail in the market?“. I interviewed Tomas Concha from NTT Disruption, the company that had bought the commercially unsuccessful robot Jibo. I already had my doubts about NTT Disruption in 2020. In 2023 NTT Disruption was disrupted. Meaning that it closed down and with it Jibo. This does seem to be the end for this little useless robot.
But don’t worry! Other companies continue to build largely useless robots that are not much more than smartphones on wheels. Have a look at Samsung’s Ballie robot.
The idea of a smart home robot is not new. Amazon developed their Astro robot, but did not sell it to the general public. LG is also presenting a robot at CES2024 with roughly the same features.
I wonder if Samsung or LG will sell their robots to consumers. Or is this just another robot PR gag?
Hoping for a little more insight on the demise of Jibo at NTT Disruption in this. Article really does not live up to the title. On the topic of Samsung, they have not delivered on their previous robotic companion announcements at CES – what happened to Bot Handy? Why is the press giving them a pass when Samsung announces yet another robot companion which wont see the light of day outside of a demo?