Samsung is working on its own Rolly robot speaker

Reading time icon 2 min. read


Readers help support MSPoweruser. When you make a purchase using links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Tooltip Icon

Read the affiliate disclosure page to find out how can you help MSPoweruser effortlessly and without spending any money. Read more

Samsung has not had too much luck with their Bixby smart speakers, but a new adorable version that can actually come to you may convince more people to bring one home.

In March 2019 Samsung applied for a patent for “Electronic device and method for operating the same” at the USPTO. Recently published, the device consists of a ball-shaped speaker surrounded by a ring that can rotate independently of each other. Because the ball is able to rotate itself, it can also move itself. The ball is provided with artificial intelligence and also serves as a smart loudspeaker allowing the device to provide an ’emotionally attractive stimulus’, according to the patent description.

Uniquely if you start talking to the smart speaker it will come rolling towards you. The speaker/robot is also equipped with a camera and an infrared sensor, which can explore the environment and calculate the distance to objects, in order to be able to move towards the user. If the robot ball is obstructed in its way by other objects, the electronic device is intelligent enough to determine a new path and thus continue its path.

The device can record both photos and videos and features multiple lenses and a flash. It also features a robust, scratch-resistant design that is easy to repair. Other features include a touch-screen with an in-display fingerprint reader or iris scanner.

It could also be connected to other home entertainment equipment such as your TV.

Such a device would follow in the heels of hardware from competitors such as the Sony Rolly or LG Rolling Bot, but those devices were of course not half as capable. Hopefully, it will reach the market faster than Samsung’s more boring Bixby speaker.

Via LetsGoDigital

More about the topics: patent, samsung, samsung mobile robot