Kuri was the brainchild and flagship product of Mayfield Robotics which was founded in 2015. Mayfield wanted to create useful home robots that also provided inspiration and joy.
They dubbed Kuri the ‘most adorable’ home robot. The company had three co-founders, Mike Beebe, Sarah Osentoski, and Kaijen Hsiao.
The company found that people wanted home robots that enhanced home security by, for example, interacting with outdoor cameras. They wanted one that would spot intruders and alert owners.
They also wanted the robot to be useful whether the owner is at home or not – and could make a good impression on guests in the home. They wanted an entertaining robot that sent pet videos to owners away at work or traveling.
Buyers could check in on their homes at any time. Kuri roams around the home autonomously and interacts with people and pets, taking nice videos and sharing them through the app.
Kuri is not like a home security camera that records constantly. It does allow owners to check in whenever they need to and will greet children when they arrive home from school and check on pets as needed as well as alert you of any intruders. It gives you peace of mind while you are away.
When you are at home, she can play music and dance to it as well as play podcasts and audiobooks. Interactions with Kuri are also meant to be pleasant and likable. She purrs, sneezes, and giggles.
By partnering with IFTTT, the makers of Kuri made it possible for users to enjoy a customized smart home centered on Kuri.
After its launch in 2017, Kuri was all the rage. He appeared at tech events and made several media appearances.
He won several awards from magazines like PC Magazine, WIRED, and Engadget. He appeared on TV shows like Today Show, BuzzFeed as well as magazines like TechCrunch, CNET, Popular Science, and WIRED.
Kuri even made an impression on Showbiz events like the Sundance Film Festival, CES 2018, TED2018, and SXSW.
Pros
• Kuri’s small stature made it ideal for capturing videos of pets and young children. It has a 1080p HD camera.
• Kuri is better than a home security camera because it provides companionship. The robot takes commands and can follow you, entertaining you with podcasts, music, or audiobooks as you go about your business. It can even dance with you. Because Kuri was intended for home use, Mayfield designed it to be friendly and cute with an endearing voice.
• Kuri didn’t just wait for people to talk to him. He could move around the home and start conversations with people as well as interact with pets.
Cons
• Kuri failed to find a product-market fit. Because other smart assistant solutions performing most of the same tasks at a fraction of the cost, it did not take off the way it was expected to.
The robot initially focused on home security, providing owners with peace of mind. The final result was Kuri, a robot that provided companionship while you were home and worked as a videographer while you were away.
Mayfield announced that it was stopping the production of Kuri in mid-2018. Not long after, the company itself folded because it could not mobilize the capital needed to continue operations.
Even though the product did not take off as expected, Kuri proved useful for the customers who bought it.
