ibtimes.co.uk
'Alexa, vacuum my home': iRobot's Roomba hoovers up Amazon Echo skill
Oliver Cragg
Slovenly tech fans will no doubt be delighted to hear that iRobot's
elite Roomba robotic vacuum cleaners will soon be compatible with
Amazon's artificially intelligent personal assistant, Alexa. The US-only
Alexa "skill" will be added to Amazon Echo smart devices in Q2 2017,
allowing connected Roomba vacuum owners to activate their
dirt-demolishing discs with simple voice commands.
Alexa's repertoire has continued to expand since its launch embedded
within the Amazon Echo smart speaker (and its smaller Echo Dot), with
various smart home gadgets and Internet of Things (IoT) oddities now
controllable by voice. The addition of a Roomba command – which iRobot
noted would be as basic as "Alexa, ask Roomba to begin cleaning" – now
adds house cleaning to the AI-assisted mix.
Echo support is not the only new feature for Roomba owners to dabble
with, however, as iRobot is also adding new features to its iOS and
Android app that brings "enhanced mapping features and useful
post-cleaning reports" to certain models of the US company's circular
cleaning robots.
"Combining adaptive navigation with visual localisation, iRobot Roomba
900 Series vacuuming robots build a map of a home as they clean," read a
press release. "Clean Map reports make these maps visible to customers
in the iRobot Home App after a cleaning job is complete."
According to iRobot, these Clean Maps will show off the dirtiest regions
of your house and will order the Roomba to provide "a more focused
cleaning in those areas." Think Google Maps for filthy floors. The
upcoming app update will also add push notifications that "alert users
on job status, including when the robot is finished cleaning."
"iRobot is aggressively pursuing opportunities within the connected home
to improve our customers' experience with our cleaning robots," said
Colin Angle, CEO of iRobot. "These are exciting next steps towards our
vision of an ecosystem of home robots that work collaboratively and
further enable the smart home."
It is unclear as yet if the update will ever reach Roomba owners who
also happen to own an Amazon Echo device in the UK. As for the Roomba
itself, if you are unsure on whether a sci-fi vacuum cleaner can really
help with household chores, be sure to check out IBTimes UK's review of
iRobot's flagship, the Roomba 980.
--
David Goldfield,
Assistive Technology Specialist
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