Misa robot wants to join your family

Ever since the 1960s when robots had featured roles in TV shows like Lost In Space and the Jetsons, inventors have been trying to create an actual robot that would be a welcome and productive addition to a modern household. They were generally unsuccessful. 

For three decades, I attended consumer electronics trade shows where almost every year a new household robot or personal robot was introduced with much fanfare and hyperbole. Do you know anyone who has their own robot? I don't either, unless you count robotic vacuum cleaners.

But that could change with  the arrival of Misa, a small and friendly personal assistant that has a far more practical skill set than most sci-fi robots. While Rosey cleaned house for the Jetsons and  the Robinson's robot carried defensive weapons, Misa uses its brains to manage a calendar, send messages, find information and play games with children and adults. 

Misa's body stands just under one foot tall with feet that can propel it across smooth floors. Misa's smiling face is projected on a 7-inch video screen powered by a 1.8 GHz CPU that runs the Android operating system. 

He (or she) has dual microphones and high-definition cameras and a series of sensors that help it avoid obstacles, calculate forward distances and respond to touches. The robot's battery delivers 8 hours of talk time and 48 hours of standby time between charges.

Like Siri, Google, and Alexa, Misa responds to spoken commands and requests. Users can say "Hey, Misa, take a selfie of us," "set a timer for 5 minutes," or "Show me hotels in Chicago." 

In addition to English, Misa also speaks German, French, Spanish, Dutch, Korean and Japanese. New languages including Polish, Swedish and Arabic are scheduled to be added this year.

Misa has a companion mobile app that lets you move the robot around the house, make video call, and use Misa as a video monitor.

The Misa robot currently sells for $399 on the Misa website. You can also learn more about Misa on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and @MisaRobot on Twitter.

Get a closer look at Misa, check out my unboxing video below and the videos on Misa's YouTube channel.

 

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Written by Ric Manning

Follow me on Twitter @ricmanning and read my technology columns at My Well Being.