One of the things writers like George Orwell couldn't have predicted is that we would willingly pay cash for Big Brother to watch us.
Astro is equipped with Amazon's Alexa voice assistant. It can set and deliver reminders, serve up entertainment like TV shows or podcasts and control smart home devices, among other tasks. The robot also responds to commands, so if users say, "Astro, beatbox," the robot will make musical noises.
The robot also has security and safety features. Through an integration with Amazon's smart home security subsidiary Ring, Astro is capable of autonomously patrolling a user's home while they're away. It can flag potential intruders and listen for things like broken glass or smoke alarms via a feature called Alexa Guard.
I mean, really, if the robot is as adorable as Wall-E, it's totally fine if Big Tech scans your face, patrols your home, and monitors your media usage and purchases.
Here's the promo video for this $999 machine:
Astro uses facial recognition to make "deliveries" to family members and to follow specific people, although Amazon says you can turn off the mic and camera if you want for privacy.
For those worried about privacy, Amazon said Astro's camera, microphone and motion sensors can be switched off by pressing a button. Users can also designate "out of bound zones," or certain rooms that are off limits to the Astro robot.
At least, for now. I'm sure the Australian government is already waiting to get their hands on this tech to make sure their citizens are staying in their homes.
But I guess it's apparently good at scaring away raccoons, so there's that.
To keep armed humans out of your home, I assume you'll have to wait for Astro 2.0.
