Gurman: Apple working on personal robotics as next skunkworks project

Apple turned Jetsons-style video calling into reality with FaceTime. Now the company sees personal robotics as an area worth exploration, reports Mark Gurman for Bloomberg. Is Rosey the Robot the next Jetsonian technology to become a reality?

It’s way too early to know if Apple will popularize the robot house maid, but Mark Gurman has some very interesting details about a private skunk-works project going on at the company.

Engineers at Apple have been exploring a mobile robot that can follow users around their homes, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the skunk-works project is private. The iPhone maker also has developed an advanced table-top home device that uses robotics to move a display around, they said.

Gurman adds that the robotic display is further along than an Apple mobile bot for the home. However, the robo monitor has “been added and removed from the company’s product road map over the years,” he reports.

Given the history of that product, Gurman has regularly reported on details of the iPad-like product with a robotic arm for the home over the years.

What’s different now? For starters, Apple cleared the runway for its next product category when the firm canceled its electric car project this year. AI and a continued interest in smart home technology also fuel Apple’s interest in home robotics. Much like the car project, though, Tesla already has shown its work on its own robotics project.

Gurman further describes the table-top robotics hardware as something that will “have the display mimic the head movements — such as nodding — of a person on a FaceTime session. It would also have features to precisely lock on to a single person among a crowd during a video call.”

Obstacles include creating something with a reasonable price and gaining executive sign-off on the project before it progresses. Gurman highlights that a job listing from Apple openly discusses next-gen Apple products that use robotics and AI, however, so there are already external signs of life for the department.

Read the full report from Bloomberg here.