Amazon Astro, often shortened to Astro, is a home robot developed by
Amazon.com, Inc
Amazon.com, Inc., doing business as Amazon (, ; , ), is an American multinational technology company engaged in e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. Founded in 1994 by Jeff Bezos i ...
. It was designed for home security monitoring, remote care of elderly relatives, and as a
virtual assistant
An intelligent virtual assistant (IVA) or intelligent personal assistant (IPA) is a software agent that can perform tasks or services for an individual based on commands or questions. The term " chatbot" is sometimes used to refer to virtua ...
that can follow a person from room to room.
Features
Tom's Guide called the device "
Alexa
Alexa may refer to: Technology
*Amazon Alexa, a virtual assistant developed by Amazon
* Alexa Internet, a defunct website ranking and traffic analysis service
* Arri Alexa, a digital motion picture camera
People
*Alexa (name), a given name and ...
on wheels" and everything available on the
Amazon Echo Show 10 is on this new device. The Astro has visual ID and should be able to recognize different family members and send an alert if the device sees someone in the home it does not recognize.
In 2022, Amazon announced a pilot program connecting Astro to the
Ring
Ring may refer to:
* Ring (jewellery), a round band, usually made of metal, worn as ornamental jewelry
* To make a sound with a bell, and the sound made by a bell
:(hence) to initiate a telephone connection
Arts, entertainment and media Film and ...
security system, allowing workers in a remote call centre to control Astro to investigate security alerts.
Hardware
Reception
Mark Gurman of
Bloomberg News
Bloomberg News (originally Bloomberg Business News) is an international news agency headquartered in New York City and a division of Bloomberg L.P. Content produced by Bloomberg News is disseminated through Bloomberg Terminals, Bloomberg Televi ...
says that, six months after its release, hardly anyone was talking about Astro online, and that Amazon had shipped only a few hundred units, at most.
David Priest of
CNET observes that "For now, this robot remains a luxury item, for people with a lot of money to try out a cutting-edge technology that still lacks a compelling use case."
Lauren Goode of
Wired magazine
''Wired'' (stylized as ''WIRED'') is a monthly American magazine, published in print and online editions, that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquartered in San F ...
labels Astro as "a robot for the sake of a robot" and "a robot without a cause, at least for now".
The announcement in September 2022 that Astro would function as a security guard connected to
Ring
Ring may refer to:
* Ring (jewellery), a round band, usually made of metal, worn as ornamental jewelry
* To make a sound with a bell, and the sound made by a bell
:(hence) to initiate a telephone connection
Arts, entertainment and media Film and ...
security devices for homes and small businesses led Gizmodo to comment on the increasing "creepiness" of Astro.
See also
*
Smart speaker
A smart speaker is a type of loudspeaker and voice command device with an integrated virtual assistant that offers interactive actions and hands-free activation with the help of one "hot word" (or several "hot words"). Some smart speakers can a ...
References
{{Amazon
Astro
Astro may refer to:
Entertainment and media
* Astro (South Korean band), a South Korean boy band
* Astro (UB40) (1957–2021), member of the British reggae band UB40
* Astro (Chilean band), a Chilean indie rock band
* Astro (Japanese band), a ...
Products introduced in 2021
Robots
2021 robots