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Vector robot by anki stores5/30/2023 ![]() One evening he just rolled around and pushed coasters, pens and the remote control off the table, which is a pretty realistic simulation of what it's like to own a cat.Īt first I wasn't sure if he was moving around while I wasn't home, so I set up a test. It was strangely nice just to have him hanging out on the coffee table while I watched TV. He may not be as "useful" as those, but he's definitely more fun – even when he's not doing anything in particular. And the Google Assistant doesn't randomly ask for a fist bump. ![]() Alexa isn't excited to see me when I walk in the door. In practice, Vector is far more impressive as a pet than an assistant. It's annoying when a regular assistant doesn't hear you talking to it, but when Vector isn't listening because he's too busy playing with his cube – well, it's strangely kind of cute. It's surprisingly easy to forgive his frustrations when he feels more like a disobedient puppy than a flawed piece of tech. Vector's biggest success is definitely not his smarts, but his charm. And that's actually more important than we expected. But there's one key redeeming feature – it's really hard to stay mad at that face. To make matters worse, he struggled to connect and stay connected to the Wi-Fi, both at the office and at home. Or the answer to whatever Vector thought you were asking, anyway. Chaining commands becomes almost unbearable – it's "Hey Vector," pause, "I have a question," pause, your question, pause, then finally the answer. He fails to understand commands a frustrating amount of the time, and even when he does get the gist he's not the fastest thinker. Overall, Vector's practical skills are very limited compared to Amazon Echo et al. Likewise, once you've given a few fist bumps and watched all his toy cube tricks, the fun factor is short-lived too. Asking him for a weather forecast or to set a timer works fine, but it's all stuff you can do quicker and easier on your phone. Despite the impressive gadgetry he's crammed with, there's just not all that much you can do with him. In purely practical terms, Vector is a little disappointing in both fun and function.
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