Earlier this summer, the “first ever” family robot, Jibo hit crowdfunding site Indiegogo. Cynthia Breazeal’s project immediately hit the spotlight and has now been declared as the most successful technology campaign on Indiegogo ever. Originally seeking only $100,000, the project reached its initial goal in just a few days. On Sunday (September 14th), its campaign closed having raised $2,289,606 from 5,554 backers.
As previously reported, The family robot helps to bring technology to life with personal and emotive engagement. Unlike the home gadgets and other tech, Jibo fits in more like one of the family. As soon as you bring Jibo home, he will start to learn about you. He will recognize the different voices and faces in your family and as he interacts with you. Jibo’s personality and intelligence will come to life through various skills that provide companionship and help you to coordinate and manage daily activities, as well as stay close to those you love even when you’re apart.
Key features of Jibo are:
- Sight: Two hi-res cameras recognize and track faces, capture photos, and enable immersive video calling.
- Hearing: 360 microphones and natural language processing let you talk to Jibo from anywhere in the room.
- Learn: Artificial intelligence algorithms learn your preference to adapt and fit into your life.
- Help: Like a personal assistant, Jibo proactively helps you, to make everyday tasks simpler and easier.
- Speaks: Hand-free reminders and messages, so you’ll never forget and can always be in touch.
- Relate: Communicates and expresses using natural social and emotive cues so you understand each other better.
During the final update, the Jibo team declared, “This weekend we became the #1 Most Successful Technology Campaign on Indiegogo ever when we broke $2.2M! We are both elated and deeply grateful to all our supporters for helping Jibo set a new record.”
“The close of the campaign also means the end of our special campaign pricing and perks. We are delighted to offer these special perks and price breaks our earliest supporters and believers. Visit our site NOW before its too late to take advantage of these special campaign deals. ”
They also noted, “Jibo will be able to keep an eye on your home while you are away, or check in on pets or family at home while you are at work. This downloadable Skill will be available for free only to those who have contributed through the campaign, and will be available for purchase on the JIBO Store when ready early 2016.”
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