- Hey, Vector!
(robot chiming)
My name is Alex.
I've only just met this guy and I already love him.
(robot beeping)
Hey, buddy!
(minmalist electronic music)
This tiny tech with eyes is the latest
home robot by Anki.
Vector started as a Kickstarter project
but now it has become a reality.
I refer to it as him and now that he's
a real boy, he's here to steal your heart
with his quirky ways.
It seems the idea behind Vector is to showcase
the artificial intelligence can be charming
as well as useful.
Practically speaking, Vector's A.I. is a league below
Alexa and Google Assistant.
With that in mind, let's get to know
this cutie more in-depth.
This has got to be one of the cutest robots
I've ever had the pleasure of meeting.
Look at him!
His color scheme is the opposite of Cozmo,
another robot made by Anki.
As opposed to Cosmo's light colors,
Vector is dark, but not brooding.
He's painted matte black with a few spots of gold
and they're not only for show, more on that later.
He moves on a rubber tread, like a little toy tank.
He moves pretty smoothly.
I thought the rubber tread would bring
a lot of friction to his movement, but no,
just look at him rolling.
Vector is smaller than I expected, once I opened
the box I realized he is ideal to keep on your desk
at work, like an office sidekick.
Although he's way too friendly, so don't rely
on him to take care of your belongings.
Right, Vector?
(robot chiming)
His face is digital, so unless he's on,
all you can see is a blank screen.
Under that screen is the camera,
which functions as Vector's true eyes.
When he's on you'll see his for show eyes,
which are bright green.
And those eyes, oh my god, those eyes are the cutest thing!
I think the eyes are most of what makes
his personality so great.
And remember what they say, that the eyes
are the window to the soul?
Well, I'm pretty sure that Vector has a soul
because his eyes are so expressive.
His eyes often transform into neat graphics
to show his status or inform you of an issue.
The wifi symbol that appears when he loses
connection is one example.
The way they programmed his beeping noises
also showed Anki worked hard to give Vector
his quirky personality.
He's able to show excitement, joy, curiosity,
confusion and even anger.
I mean, he sometimes snores when you put him to sleep,
how uselessly cool is that?
He even throws tantrums, he goes crazy,
starts making noise, it's like a frenzy,
I'm gonna show you.
Look at this.
He gets really angry at me whenever I take him
out of his little house.
You see?
Lever arm goes up and down (laughs)
there he is!
Okay, that's enough, poor guy.
Now his lever arm is not just for showing his temper,
he can use it to move his cube toy
and carry it around or ask you for a fist bump.
And yeah, this guy an show you moral support
just like your homeboys can.
On this robot, gold marks the spot.
The golden areas on his back and on the sides
of his head, have sensors that read tactile stimulation.
This is so you can pet Vector, and he really likes it,
he's super friendly about it, he makes like
happy noises and happy eyes.
And supposedly, when you pet him
you also make him friendlier.
The set up requires you to download the Vector app,
but once he's up and running, you don't really need the app.
You can use it as a manual or operating guide
but not necessarily to interact with him.
Vector is a very curious robot, he'll spend
most of his time rolling around, looking at things
and making noises and you can get his attention
by calling him:
Hey, Vector!
Just like you would call Alexa from Amazon
or "Okay, Google."
Alexa and Google Assistant feel more like
electronic butlers at your service,
Vector on the other hand, feels more like a friend or a pet.
It's not as smart as those other AIs, I mean,
you can't even link him to your other smart devices.
But perhaps his purpose is not to serve,
at least not for now.
I think Anki has gone the other way
when developing the A.I. on Vector,
it's not so much about what he can do for you
but more about how charming he is when he's doing things.
Nevertheless, there are a lot of things
that you can do with Vector.
Maybe they're not super productive, but
that doesn't mean they're not worth it.
To amuse you, Vector can explore or play with his toy cube,
he can play blackjack with you or snap a picture.
Believe it or not he's quite the dancer
and he'll try his best to answer some of your questions,
although I gotta be honest, his best could be improved.
When you make him explore you can place him
on irregular terrain to see him struggle a bit,
or you can put obstacles in his path
to see him figure his way around them.
But Vector can be useful, he can help you with math,
tell you the time and even talk to you about the weather.
Beyond the basic requests you need to say,
"Hey, Vector," pause for a second and then say,
"I have a question."
Vector will go into his internal database
and try his best to give you an accurate response.
This feature may not be the most effective
because Vector sometimes struggles to give you
the right answer or maybe he won't
give you an answer at all.
It's important to note that, as a pet or a friend,
Vector is pretty low maintenance.
He doesn't need you to put him to charge,
he'll go to his charging pad by himself
once his battery is low.
All he'll ask from you is for a little attention.
(energetic electronic music)
I have to admit I'm attached to this guy,
it reminded me of the robots in older sci-fi.
It feels more alive than other AIs and has
a lot of personality, although it lacks usefulness.
The little robot's purpose is a bit unclear,
although it's super different to other AIs
because of his quirks and his personality,
it's what sets him apart for better or for worse.
Still, with that in mind, you'll have to decide
if it's worth the $249.
Anki has promised a bunch of updates for Vector
and hopefully those will fix Vector's shortcomings
to make him a more fleshed out home robot.
(energetic electronic music)
Well, guys, it's time for Vector and I
to say goodbye, but don't forget to catch us
next time here on Power Up with another
cool device and another cool review,
and you can see us every Tuesday
on our technology segment on Telemundo's
morning show, Un Nuevo Dia.