The characters of Pixar films are being reborn in a compact robotics platform made for the desk, as Robosen ventures beyond sizeable Transformers.
More robots are coming home, but they may not be the kind you expect.
While most of the robots we hear about in the home have to do with cleaning your house, the robotic vacuum and mop isn’t all that’s on the way. In fact, some robots are out to entertain, albeit in little ways.
Robotic entertainment company Robosen has been one of the pioneers in that space, offering variations of Transformers toys that actually transform, though you’ve needed a fair amount of money to even try their gear out, with prices fetching well over a thousand dollars.
Its latest take on robots is to get the price down much lower, offering robots for around $199 per robot, though also getting the size down considerably, as well.
Robosen’s “Mini” smart robots are a combination of toy and tech, creating a smart toy platform using an electronic base that can control hand-sized robots with arm movements, voices, and even apply a little programming to.
The idea is reminiscent of what Sphero tried doing with Star Wars robots years ago, but with less movement. While the Sphero R2D2 and BB-8 could be remote controlled and moved around, the Robosen Mini robots can be controlled, but are more like desktop companions of sorts, lacking the driving.
Instead, the system is more like an old console, locking a cartridge of sorts into the Robosen base, and running it either in a basic playback mode — like a toy — or a programming mode to customise and engineer the characters.
And oh my, there will be characters, the first of which come from the Disney Pixar universe.
Specifically, there’ll be Wall-E and Eve from the Pixar classic Wall-E, while Toy Story 3‘s Buzz, Woody, Jesse, Lotso, Rex, and the claw aliens will also make an appearance as robots you can play with.
This is apparently just the beginning, too, with other characters and robots in the pipeline, inclusion Minions, Voltron, How to Train Your Dragon, and even a Delorean and Flux Capacitor from Back to the Future. As a geek, this writer is possibly more excited for those last two than he probably should be.
“At Robosen, we’ve built a first-of-its-kind platform that merges timeless storytelling with state-of-the-art robotics,” said Rocky Luo, General Manager for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, which covers Australia and New Zealand.
“For kids, parents, collectors, and tech fans alike, these Mini Robots are more than toys — they’re interactive companions that evolve with imagination,” he said.
Robosen’s Mini robots will make their way to store shelves from November, provided from $199 each in Australia and $249 in New Zealand.
