This robot is ready to give you a toothbrush

The newest human being The robot on the scene, Sprout, is not designed to carry boxes or stack shelves. Instead, this charming and relatively cheap model, which is roughly the size of a 9-year-old child, is intended to help customers in hotels, shops and restaurants.

“We said, ‘What if we could build something that was lightweight, attractive, safe to be in, and capable enough to do some exciting things?’” says Robert Cochran, co-founder and CEO of Fauna, the startup behind Sprout.

Sprout is available for purchase starting today, starting at $50,000. Cochran adds that his company is already talking to hotels about using Sprout as a butler who will bring toothbrushes and other items to guests in need.

Sprout’s launch is part of a growing industry in the United States. The humanoid robotics business is booming although it is still unclear how useful and practical these systems are. More than a dozen US companies are working on humanoid robots, including Boston Dynamics, which recently did so It signed a deal to use Google’s artificial intelligence in its robots; Tesla, which is developing a system called Optimus; And startups like Agility Robotics, Figure AI, and 1X.

Chinese robotics maker Unitree has done so as well He has had success selling inexpensive humanoids for entertainment and research Purposes. Some of Unitree’s humanoid robots cost less than $20,000. However, when fully equipped with sensors and computers, it costs about the same as a Sprout device.

Fauna’s early clients include Disney, which already uses robots in some of its theme parks, and Boston Dynamics, which makes a range of legged robots for industrial use, including larger, stronger robots.

Sprout is designed to be easy to program, making it especially useful in research settings, Cochran says. The robot comes with programming libraries that allow it to scan its environment, walk autonomously, access language models, and more. The robot can also be operated remotely out of the box, which could be useful for robot training purposes. Scientists at New York University are using Sprout to research new techniques for robotic manipulation and human-robot interaction. The company also says it has developed a special technology to help Sprout regain its balance if it stumbles.

While most humanoid robots are described as factory workers, with some already being tested by automakers, Cochran says Vona believes the first market for robots may be in the entertainment and service industries.

Cochran showed me a few interfaces for Sprout, including an app that shows the robot’s visual perspective and a programming interface that can be used to program the system in real time. Unlike most humanoids, Sprout was designed with human interaction in mind, which is why he comes equipped with mechanical eyebrows to express interest, surprise, or confusion.

Cochran previously worked at Meta. Other members of the founding team come from Google. Cochran points out that AI systems that can recognize objects, such as those being developed for smart glasses, would also be useful for robots tasked with interacting with human environments.

At some point during the demonstration, Cochrane asked Sprout to go and check what was in the refrigerator. The robot interpreted the command with an LLM and walked to the corner of the office in a manner not unlike a 9-year-old. After looking through the glass door of the machine, Sprout returned to report that there were several soft drinks present.

Cochrane believes that this type of ability could help humans break through this field. “You can have a ‘Hello World’ example of a robot where you can talk to it, draw a map autonomously, and navigate its environment effectively,” he says. “From there, the world is your oyster.”