The video shows a researcher completing tasks with two robots, one labeled “Expressive” and the other labeled “Functional,” and the former is way more fun.
Both robots are desk-style lamps on an articulating arm, with what appears to be an LED light, camera, speaker, and projector built in. They respond to gestures and voice commands and have a voice that sounds suspiciously like Apple’s Siri. One of them exhibits a lot of personality.
When the researcher in the video plays music, the “Expressive” robot lamp dances with her; when she asks about the weather, it looks outside first; when she’s working on an intricate project, it follows her movements to shed light more helpfully; when it reminds her to drink water, it pushes the glass toward her. When she tells it it can’t come out on a hike with her, it hangs its head in faux sadness.
The Functional version — pictured side-by-side doing the same tasks — remains immobile unless required to move as part of the task. It’s a remarkably effective demonstration of how adding human characteristics to an object can make it more relatable and even more functional.
Numerous reports have indicated that Apple is developing more devices for the home — including a smart display and a tabletop robot. These could both act as a personal assistant with Siri, a FaceTime video-calling device, and a smart home control center. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman has reported the robotic device could ship in 2026 or 2027 and may cost around $1,000.
Not that Apple is explicitly developing this particular Pixar-style lamp for our homes. It’s hard to see how a lamp robot without a screen would be able to serve all of those purposes, although the video does show the robot equipped with a projector at one point. But this project — which is being led by Yuhan Hu, Peide Huang, Mouli Sivapurapu, and Jian Zhang — is designed to prove that a robot needs to be expressive to encourage us to interact with it.
After watching the video, though, I’m sold on the lamp. This thing is stinking cute and seems to be far more functional than any smart speaker in my house.
