Roomba Creator Builds a Robot Called Familiar That Follows You Home and Learns Your Ways

Photo credit: WSJ
Colin Angle, the co-founder who transformed the humble vacuum into a household staple, left iRobot in 2024 to pursue a new business, Familiar Machines & Magic. His most recent creation, Familiar, a four-legged companion, adds a unique element to living rooms. The prototypes, Daphne and Winston, are about the size of a bulldog. They have soft artificial fur to give them a cuddly appearance, and a touch sensitive layer underneath to detect how people interact with them. Their huge, round bear-cub ears and doe eyes draw them up for a conversation.

These things move using 23 separate joints, allowing them to bob their heads, tilt those little ears, adjust their gaze, and wag a small tail. They travel through the house at a slow pace, following you from room to room and plopping down when they think you’re close. People can touch them on the head or take them up for a squeeze, and the object will respond in a way that makes them feel alive, even if they do not say anything. They simply kind of… sound like they’re purring or emitting small chirps that change on the spot.

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All of this is thanks to onboard cameras and microphones that detect tone of voice, posture, and everyday routine. It everything happens on the device, thanks to a small AI that has been trained to understand social cues. They remember what you do every day, notice when you appear off, and change their behavior over time to maintain everything feeling natural and seamless. They’re doing all of this without sending any video or audio clips, unless you choose to provide a small clip or two to help the developers figure out what to fix.

Angle and his team drew on their extensive experience at Disney, Boston Dynamics, and MIT. They blended some of the low-cost strategies they discovered while working on the original Roomba with fresh motion and sound design ideas that have emerged since then. So, what do we get? A robot that does not attempt to walk like a person or do anything other than be a good pet. Familiar keeps low to the earth and simply existing.

In terms of money, expect to spend between $50 and $100 each month for the luxury of having one of these things around. When you consider the cost of food and vet visits for the real thing, it’s not much different than what you’d pay in pet expenditures. Sales aren’t expected to begin until 2027, so don’t get too excited just yet. For now the prototypes serve as proof that everyday homes can welcome a machine built first for company instead of chores.