Jibo

Jibo is a social robot that was developed by Jibo, Inc. for home use. Marketed as a personal assistant with a focus on human–robot interaction, it was designed to respond to natural language, engage with users through movements and expressions, and help with everyday tasks. The device was positioned as one of the first consumer-oriented social robots for the home, combining voice capabilities with a motion-responsive body.

The hardware features a compact, rounded body equipped with a speaker system, microphones, and sensors to detect user presence. It includes a display used to present visual responses and information. Jibo’s software aimed to support tasks such as answering questions, telling stories, providing weather and time updates, setting reminders and alarms, offering calendar and news briefings, playing music, and controlling compatible smart-home devices. It could also capture photos or videos and facilitate simple video calls, depending on connectivity and integration with other services.

Technically, Jibo relied on cloud-based artificial intelligence for natural language understanding and task execution, with some processing occurring locally. Data and interactions were sent to servers for analysis, which raised privacy considerations that were discussed in coverage and at the time of release.

In its later years, Jibo, Inc. faced financial and production challenges. The company paused or reduced hardware production and shifted its focus toward software and other opportunities. By the end of the consumer hardware phase, the product was no longer widely marketed as a consumer device, though the underlying technology and research continued to influence work in social robotics and AI.