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Kuri is the home helper robot as designed by Pixar that could replace your Dog

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For centuries, human beings have dreamt of automated companions that to carry out our wants and whims and take care of the jobs we'd rather not do ourselves. From the campy robot helpers of 1950s golden age science fiction through to the more personality-afflicted droids of the modern Star Wars films, the fictional world has been inundated with examples of these man-made creatures, but it's only now, at the dawn of a new age of artificial intelligence, that we appear to be approaching a time when these robot friends become science fact. Last year, we saw the likes of the JIBO and the slightly more advanced Buddy hit the headlines, with their cute looks, slick interfaces and surprising affordability. This year, however, at least as far as affordable robot helpers is concerned, looks set to be the year of Kuri.

An actually rathe fully featured robot companion, Kuri, which will retail for around £570, will, by the time it launches, not only be able to follow commands, but will actually be able to follow a set routine based on who it recognises. The adorable bot can also send custom notifications, so, for example, you could program it to shout at the dog if it's found on the sofa or yell at your other half if they are found sneaking around the fridge in the middle of the night. It can even patrol your home using a predetermined route, letting you know if it spots something out of the ordinary using motion and sound detection to hunt down an unusual occurrence and send you a recording. Still, it doesn't look particularly menacing, so I wouldn't count on it scaring off intruders.

The technological changes that have come around due to smartphones have made components more powerful and cheaper than they ever were, and we can leverage those changes to make robots” Kaiien Hsiao, Chief Technology Officer at Mayfield Robotics

Created by a startup company called Mayfield Robotics, which has a comfortable backing from home electronics giants Bosch, Kuri will be on display at CES in Las Vegas this weekend, and primarily functions as a security camera with a personality that you can use to check on your pets whilst you're away or generally monitor your home. Alongside the standard Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity, it also houses a 1080p camera and a speaker, so in theory it's a little like a mobile Amazon Echo crossed with a roving security camera. It recognise faces and responds to simple voice commands, but can also be controlled via an app. Reports thus far seem to claim it also does a pretty good job of navigating around an average home (once it's learned the lay of the land through it's in-built laser sensors), though obviously, stairs would be a problem.

You can currently preorder Kuri for a $100 deposit, though it will only be available in the US when it launches. For my money, Kuri will need to be more than a nifty (and adorable) security camera that doubles as a toy in order to really compete (decent smart home integration would certainly be a start), but it's certainly grabbed my attention and we'll probably hear a lot more at CES, so keep your eyes and ears peeled. Honestly, what sells the concept to me more than anything, even without actually getting my hands on a unit, is the lack of any kind of screen. We've become so accustomed to tablet and smartphone screen use in recent years that to see a piece of forward-thinking tech without one is actually something of a novelty.

No screen is quite intentional as a home robot should feel like closer to a pet or companion than an iPad ever could” Chris Matthews, VP of marketing at Mayfield Robotics

The Basic Kuri Facts

  • Roughly 3 hours of battery life.

  • It's around 20 inches tall and weighs about 14 pounds (so a small child basically).

  • It will work via Android and iOS.

  • It will retail for $700 (around £570).

  • I want one.

Benjamin Hiorns is a freelance writer and struggling musician from Kidderminster in the UK.

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