Fantastical future visions from the early 20th century foresaw a time when silver jumpsuits, flying cars, and robotic assistants would be commonplace. Fast-forward 100 years or so, and while glitzy one-piece garments aren’t really showing signs of going mainstream, there is some evidence to suggest that urban airborne transport and personal robots are on the cusp of becoming reality, though not without a few hiccups.
It’s against that backdrop that Piaggio, the Italian motor vehicle maker best known for Vespa scooters, today announced that it’s preparing to launch its first consumer robot — one that follows its owner around off its own volition, with their owner’s belongings in-tow.
By way of a quick recap, Piaggio established a Boston-based off-shoot called Piaggio Fast Forward (PFF) back in 2015, and two years later PFF gave a glimpse of its first products: a small and a large autonomous robot, called Gita and Kilo respectively. In the two years since the, Piaggio has been refining Gita ahead of today’s official unveiling — and the company has now confirmed that it will be available to buy on November 18, 2019, for $3,250.
“The Gita robot is a fundamental step toward the future of mobility for Piaggio Group,” said PFF chairman Michele Colaninno. “Our objective is to create an innovative consumer product that is efficient and easy to use while also enhancing daily life.”
It’s not clear whether Kilo will receive a launch date at a later time, or whether that project has been canned completely — a spokesperson told VentureBeat that Gita is the subject of its entire focus for the time-being.
Meet Gita
Gita, an Italian word for “short trip” that’s pronounced “jee-ta,” isn’t huge — it’s just 27in (L) x 22.3in (W) x 24in (H) on the outside, with a volume of 2630 cubic inches (38 liters).
The robot sports front-facing cameras which is what it uses to “see” the environment around it.
Above: Gita
Able to travel at up to 6 miles per hour, Gita pairs with its owner using its on-board cameras and sensors to analyze its master’s shape and size so that it knows who to follow, though it also recognizes other human shapes so that it can move around them and continue following the correct person.
Piaggio is quick to note that Gita doesn’t record any photos or videos, and that the camera is purely for analyzing the immediate environment. Although some would argue that Gita is very much autonomous, insofar as it moves without direct human control, Gita doesn’t consider the vehicle to be autonomous because it’s tied to the movements of the person that it’s paired to.
The main use-case for Gita, it seems, is to travel with its owner outdoors (though it also works indoors), carrying all their belongings — gym gear, baby accessories, a skateboard, whatever — and can hold up to 40 pounds of possessions.
Above: Piaggio’s Gita robot
The robot maintains a following distance of around 3 feet while at slower walking speeds, though this can increase to 5 feet at brisker walking speeds.
Gita’s lid is also detachable, making it easier to store longer items.
Above: Piaggio’s Gita robot
Above: Piaggio’s Gita robot
Gita can be powered through a normal wall outlet, and charges from flat in two hours — after which it will run continuously for four hours. In other words, you couldn’t rely on Gita for a day-trip.
In terms of operating Gita, well, it can’t talk or understand verbal commands. Instead, it communicates through sounds that are coordinated with a color-coded light system that informs the owner of its current state, such as whether it’s powered up, ready to pair, or to convey information on its battery level.
There is also an accompanying mobile app, available for iOS and Android, which is not strictly necessary for basic functionality, but it offers users another option for locking and unlocking the cargo lid, and it also enables them to hand-off access to Gita for other people, and even stream music — yes, Gita has a built in Bluetooth speaker.
Expensive folly?
Gita isn’t the first sidewalk-traversing robot to hit the public sphere — Amazon and a number of food-delivery companies are using similar vehicles to transport goods to customers. But PFF is hoping to throw another option into the burgeoning urban mobility industry, which includes everything from electric scooters to bike-share schemes.
“PFF was founded to create lifestyle-transforming mobility solutions, allowing people to move with greater freedom in their neighborhoods,” noted PFF cofounder and CEO Greg Lynn. “With the Gita robot, our first product, we’re thrilled to see that vision come to life. From students to working professionals, new parents to grandparents, Gita empowers people of all ages to more actively enjoy their surroundings, and to interact with their communities in a more meaningful way.”
In truth, $3,250 represents a fairly insane amount of money when you consider its intended use-cases and inherent limitations. Gita is only designed to work on solid terrain, such as paths and sidewalks, meaning that this will not run on mud, tall grass, sand, or snow. It also can’t climb stairs, is limited to slopes with a gradient of 16 percent (which actually should be fine for most cities), and although it should be fine in most rainfall scenarios, the company warns that the lid isn’t watertight — so you might want to be careful with objects that could be damaged by water.
Moreover, Gita on its own weights 50 pounds, which rises to 90 pounds when filled to its maximum weight capacity — so this can’t easily be picked up when on the move should the owner encounter a flight of stairs or muddy patch of grass. But there are a couple of handles inside Gita for those moments when it needs to be picked up and put in a car, for example.
On the surface, Gita seems to be a very expensive folly for those unwilling to carry their own belongings in a bag. However, it could prove useful for those unable to carry heavier items, either due to a disability or if their hands are otherwise engaged with carrying children, for example. PFF’s official line on how it expects Gita to improve people’s lives is that it helps them prioritize “healthy activity and social interaction.” Indeed, it seems that Gita is being pitched as a tool that allows people to lock their devices away and free themselves for more meaningful real-world interactions.
“PFF may be a robotics company, but we’re focused on revitalizing everyday human movement and social interconnections,” added Jeffrey Schnapp, cofounder and ‘chief visionary officer’ at PFF. “By prioritizing healthy activity and social interaction, PFF is carving out a new category within the field of robotics: technology that moves the way people move and that augments human experiences rather than replacing or stifling them. With Gita in tow, people are free to put down their screens, get moving and reconnect with the truly precious ‘cargo’ that shapes their lives: their partners, kids and friends.”
Whether people really would use Gita as a way to self-regulate their screen usage isn’t clear, but it has certainly been designed with that use-case in mind — inside, there is a charging port for phones and other electronics.
However you want to use Gita, it will be available to buy from November 18, though it will be opening up an early-access system for people to place their orders early.