The Emilio robot is a toy. It has no industrial applications. It doesn’t even pretend to be able to move pallets or assemble anything. let alone fold clothes. It operates with servos and has three sensors.
The Energize Labs website explains that “He has a wide range of emotions that he will express naturally throughout the day based on the touch interactions with you. In addition, Eilik has lots of interesting things to do in his spare time, such as reading, fishing, and playing musical instruments. If putting Eilik together, they will recognize each other, play, and build friendships just like we do.”
TikTok tells us that Emilio is more inclined to bicker than to make friends, but it probably depends on the humans as well as the machines.
Use cases
Okay, there are no industrial uses for Emilio, no matter how hard we try to imagine one. However, it does have some desk top skills. It can serve e as a Pomodoro time, for example. At $139, this might be a bit pricey for a timer, but he is billed as a robot pet, which is a different story entirely.
You can buy fabric outfits and magnetic (so you can stick them to the robot’s hands) food miniatures for your Eilik. You can also download not just firmware updates, but also 3-D printing files that will turn your robot buddy into an Adventurer, an artist, a musician, a bearded wizard, or a bewigged guy putting shrimp on the barbie. Not to mention the weapons, desk, cement bags, and other accoutrements you can create for your robot pet.
However, Energize Labs says that their core competency is building servos.
The future
Eilik may be a toy…now. With servos and sensors, though, can a life-size robot buddy be far behind? As humanoid robots proliferate, there may be a market for cute, highly emotional robot buddies who don’t have much practical value but are cuter than Optimus or Sophia.