Amazon, the world’s largest e-commerce company, has unveiled ‘Astro’, a multifunctional robot that can provide services such as security and convenience at home.
On the 29th (local time), US media such as CNBC and Associated Press reported that Amazon’s vice president of devices and services, David Lim, invited and introduced the home robot ‘Astro’ to the stage and demonstrated various functions at the annual new product unveiling event held online the day before. .
The Amazon Astro has a body length of about 60 cm and a weight of 9 kg, and is equipped with three wheels, Alexa, an artificial intelligence voice assistant, a camera, and various sensors. Introduced that it can move and perform the tasks instructed by the user.
| Amazon unveils home robot ‘Astro’ | ||
The Astro is priced at $999.99, and Amazon says the Astro will be available for sale later this year, in a limited way, to those who receive its invitation. The exact time of sale and the number of units sold were not disclosed.
The first major function of Astro is security monitoring. When it detects an intrusion attempt when the user is away from home, an alarm is immediately sent to the user, and when the user is outside, Astro can check the status of electric heaters or home appliances in the house.
Amazon also explained that Alexa, the voice assistant applied to Astro, can learn family faces and habits, and that there is a mounting space so that snacks, drinks, and other items can be delivered to people in other rooms.
However, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital technology monitoring group, raised concerns about invasion of privacy, saying that hackers may use ASTRO to sneak into users’ homes or the police may access ASTRO through a search warrant.
Matthew Geriglia, a policy analyst at the group, said: “The surveillance cameras on the Astro may be as useful as the security cameras in your home, but the problem is that these devices come with (security) vulnerabilities.”
In response, Vice President Lim dismissed the possibility of invasion of privacy, saying that it is equipped with anti-abuse functions, such as allowing users to turn off ASTRO’s camera and microphone, and sending an alert when someone tries to access the camera remotely.
