Techstination Interview Misty Robotics Head Tim Enwall
Tim Enwall, head of Misty Robotics, discusses Misty’s developer platform, its temperature-screening product, and possible uses for robots at work and at home with Techstination host Fred Fishkin.
In this talk
- 0:31
A robot platform for app developers
Enwall describes Misty Robotics as a Sphero spinout built to make robots accessible to software developers beyond the small group of robotics specialists. Misty II is a platform for applications in settings such as elder care, reception, customer service, and therapy. Customers build applications for familiar problems, then work with developers to deploy them; a self-service app store is still a future goal.
- 4:02
Temperature screening at facilities
Misty’s temperature-screening assistant asks visitors COVID-19 screening questions and checks their temperature with a thermal camera and an external reference device. Enwall says pilot testing led to a production-ready product announced at CES, with an administrator website for reviewing scans and responses. He quotes a price of about $3,000 plus a software fee.
- 7:49
Examples in elder care and therapy
In a Barcelona elder-care project, Misty can navigate a home, remind someone about medication, and connect them with a remote caregiver or family member. For therapy, a teacher or therapist can control Misty from a computer as it interacts with a child. Enwall also describes a developing ergonomics application that combines navigation, vision, and conversation.
- 11:18
Where robots could work and live
Enwall expects robots to become more common in offices within three to five years, citing hospital and mental-health customers who say screening can pay for itself in roughly six to eight weeks. He imagines robots helping visitors at stores or guiding shoppers through grocery aisles. Home adoption, in his estimate, is five to ten years away, with possible roles in companionship, safety checks, household routines, and environmental monitoring.
- 17:00
Small, modular hardware and early applications
Enwall says Misty II weighs seven pounds, which makes it portable and less likely to harm people or objects than a much larger robot. For tasks needing extra height, Misty can sit on a heavier mobile pedestal while retaining its interaction and sensing systems. He expects humanlike robots at consumer prices to take more than a decade, and compares today’s robot applications to early personal-computer software.
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