News

Will the Real "iRobot" Please Stand Up? (14/7/2004)

"Robots are no longer the stuff of science fiction: They are already here, helping us in our daily lives, but doing only what we tell them," says Colin Angle, robotics visionary and CEO of iRobot.

Fervor is rising over the idea of robots joining the ranks of our society, with the upcoming release of a major motion picture based on Isaac Asimov's science fiction thriller "I, Robot," starring Will Smith. As a result, people nationwide are asking, "Will robots ever play a role in our daily lives?"

"They already are," says Colin Angle, CEO of one of the world's leading robotics companies, iRobot Corporation, and robotics visionary. "We have finally reached the day when we can say robots are no longer science fiction. They are a real part of human life. Today robots are cleaning our homes, mowing our lawns and saving lives in Iraq and Afghanistan. Tomorrow, robots will be maintaining our homes for us, helping our older population live independently longer, and working to protect us from terrorism."

iRobot is credited with inventing the first successful home robot in history. iRobot's Roomba(R) Robotic Floorvac is already cleaning floors in more than a half-million homes. The disc-shaped Roomba finds and cleans dirt on household surfaces. Priced at $199.99, Roomba made history as the first affordable robot to clean homes. It is available at Target, Best Buy, Bloomingdales, The Sharper Image, Brookstone, Hammacher Schlemmer and other fine retail and online stores.

iRobot Chairman Helen Greiner said, "affordable cleaning was the killer application that finally pushed robots into the mainstream. Roomba is simple, yet intelligent enough to do one thing very well. If Roomba was expensive, complicated and difficult to work, it would still be sitting on the drawing board next to the Jetsons' Rosie and all the other fictional robots. But thanks to more than a decade of sophisticated robotics technology, we built a simple, smart, inexpensive vacuum that really works."

www.irobot.com