Consumer Robots Had a Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Year

When I was a kid, I was certain that by the time I was a grown woman, I'd have a friendly little robot friend. Adulthood was in the FUTURE, and the FUTURE had robots like R2-D2, Threepio, Data, and so on. Alas, I am a tax-paying adult with a full-time job, and no, I do not have an adorable mechanical friend that comically beep-boops its disapproval when I get up to my hijinks and shenanigans. But around this time last year, I had an inkling of hope that this future was at least on the horizon. Mayfield Robotics's Kuri Robot was lovable, functional, and buzzworthy with its cute mannerisms and deft behavioral touches. Like, it'd wiggle and waggle as it maneuvered around a room.