Why We Decided to Acquire Bots Alive
By Nick Kohut, CEO Dash Robotics
Toys that play with you (at a price everyone can afford)…
At Dash Robotics, we’ve known for several years that toys are rapidly moving in a new direction. We see three shifts — every kid has a smart phone, the cost of robotics development has fallen sharply and artificial intelligence means our toys can play with us.
This has led to an explosion of “connected toys,” promising the best of hardware (traditional toys) and software (video games) for kids’ entertainment. At Dash Robotics, our mission is to bring children affordable connected toys that foster education and interactivity. To further that aim, we decided to acquire Bots Alive, a company with some of the most promising tech we’ve seen in the connected toy space.
To understand today, you need to look at how the toy world is shifting…
Today, over 83% of US homes with children have tablets, and AI is everywhere — from self-driving cars, to unlocking your smartphone, to ordering a pizza via the Amazon Echo. This has changed how kids are playing. Mattel and Sphero have already shipped toys that understand what children are saying, like Barbie Hello Dreamhouse ($299) and Sphero Spiderman ($149). Anki’s Cozmo ($179) uses computer vision to recognize faces and objects.
Sadly though, despite this tech revolution, these toys are reserved for an incredibly small and wealthy audience, as all of them are priced at or above $149. That sticker price is out of reach for most Americans.
Bots Alive — A New Platform for AI Toys
At Dash Robotics, our mission is to build the backbone of connected toy technology to produce engaging, innovative and, most importantly, affordable toys. Our latest product, Kamigami Robots, is a perfect example, full of intelligent tech, produced in partnership with Mattel, and priced at $49 each.
These principles are why we decided last summer that we had to acquire a company in Austin, TX called Bots Alive, which was breaking new ground in the connected toy space.
Bots Alive aligns with the vision we’ve always had — toys that can play with us, play with each other, and amaze us in ways we’ve never seen before. Our platform already solves some of these puzzles, but Bots Alive gets us even closer to that dream.
The technology platform of Bots Alive allows the physical world to be programmed like a video game. This magic factor dramatically increases a toy’s capability, personality, and fun, all without raising its per-unit cost.
Some of the behaviors that can be built with Bots Alive include:
- A robot seeks out a “carrot” (digital or physical) and shares it with another robot
- Two or more robots autonomously play a game of soccer
- A robot drives too close to a “landmine” and spins out, lights up, and makes a sound
- A robot faces you, and talks to you (perhaps complimenting you on a job well done or chiding you for a mistake)
- A hero robot chases a villain robot
- A villain robot chases a hero robot (oh no!)
- A robot carefully guards a portion of your living room, wary of invaders
- …and many, many more.
How are all these behaviors built on a single system? A combination of computer vision, machine learning, and communication protocols like Bluetooth Low Energy. The platform itself is built on Unity (the world’s most popular game development software) and is compatible with both Android and iOS.
The Tech — Computer Vision, Machine Learning, and more
The Bots Alive computer vision system employs the camera of a smartphone or tablet to track over 15 objects at once, rapidly and accurately, whether the objects are moving or stationary. Using Bluetooth Low Energy, up to 8 robots can be commanded at one time. A 3D representation of the play area is built in the software by tracking the position and orientation of every tracked object. This means that robots are aware of their position and orientation relative to other robots, other objects, and the user. This is what enables robots to chase each other, face the user, or execute numerous other behaviors that make it feel “aware.”
Machine Learning is what gives the robot toys real personality. Robots in the Bots Alive system can learn from user interaction, and never react the same way to a situation twice. This allows certain robots to be aggressive, or timid, or selfish, all depending on the game they’re playing, how they’ve been treated in the past, and what the user has “taught” them. This opens up a huge world of character building and human-toy interaction that was never before possible.
The Future
It’s undoubtedly true that toys will get smarter and more engaging over time. New technology is giving birth to incredible creativity in the space. At Dash Robotics, we want to provide the best toolset for that creativity. We work with top partners to infuse personality, robotics, and magic into their brands and toys.
Nick Kohut
CEO, Dash Robotics, Inc.
