Why trust Greenbot
The lamp tilts its head in confusion, then wiggles with delight when it understands your request — not a scene from a Pixar movie, but Apple’s latest venture into making robots more human.
Apple’s research team is testing out a desk lamp that acts like a cartoon character, resembling Pixar’s Luxo Jr. lamp.
The robot lamp combines Siri-like voice commands with playful movements to make users feel like they’re interacting with a friendly companion rather than a machine. This was detailed in a blog post published on Apple’s Machine Learning Research site.
Source: Apple
Yuhan Hu, Peide Huang, Mouli Sivapurapu, and Jian Zhang lead the research team behind the tabletop technology. They designed the robot to challenge current smart devices’ cold, purely functional approach. “Nonverbal behaviors such as posture, gestures, and gaze are essential for conveying internal states,” the researchers wrote in their paper “ELEGNT: Expressive and Functional Movement Design for Non-Anthropomorphic Robot.”
The prototype, shown in the video demonstration, can turn 360 degrees and is equipped with a camera, speaker, and projector. It responds to voice commands and hand gestures. When asked about the weather, it looks out the window before giving its report. During music playback, it dances along with the beat.
This development comes as Apple expands its home robotics initiatives under VP Kevin Lynch’s leadership. The company has been hiring more robotics experts since 2022, pointing to bigger plans in the smart home market.
According to Bloomberg, Apple might release a home robot for consumers that could cost around $1,000. The final product could be different from this prototype. The company is also developing a smart home camera and display to compete with Google Nest cameras and Amazon’s Echo Show. All these devices are rumored to launch in 2026 or 2027.
After stepping back from ambitious projects like self-driving cars, Apple seems to explore home robotics opportunities. The expressive lamp could be one of several home devices powered by Apple Intelligence, the company’s AI system. By combining AI with friendly robots, Apple might have found its own path into smart homes.
