Tovbot has declared its intention to bring Shimi to stocks through Kickstarter.. Designed by roboticists team from MIT Media Lab, Georgia Tech, and IDC Herzliya, Shimi is an intelligent robot that functions as dance partner as well as high-quality speaker system.
Shimi got its name from the “Shimmy” dance move, and surpasses an “appcessory.” It serves to be an effective robotic musical companion. Shimi is capable of both playing and listening to music from an iPod or docked iPhone. These robots can dance in accordance to the beat and develop new, unique musical compositions. It can respond to humans, based on advanced facial and speech recognition algorithms.
The Tovbot Kickstarter campaign can upgrade the Shimi prototype within a product that can be mass produced and sold cost-effectively.
Initially, Shimi acts as a high-quality speaker dock having optimized shape that can generate sound. In addition to creating ultimate sound, Shimi adopts iPhone as its brain and can be used as one’s own personal robotic musical companion. Shimi can identify and understand music and also every individual’s preference in music.
When the music kicks off, Shimi takes the lead. Using five strategically located motors, Shimi can specifically dance to the beat of all songs, appropriate to specific song and genre. Shimi is considered to be a musical companion and directs the speakers toward a person, and can also respond to one’s voice, gestures, and taps. Additionally, it can also suggest new music.
Tovbot will take part in this week’s TechCrunch Disrupt event as a competitor in the Startup Battlefield, where it will also exhibit Shimi innovation. Shimi’s development team will further develop new applications like apps for music production, gaming, education, tele-presence and beyond.
Tovbot’s Shimi will be available by February 2013.
Source: http://www.tovbot.com/