十年前，亞馬遜公司發布Kindle，提升了用數字設備閱讀的吸引力。四年前，在首席執行官杰夫·貝佐斯領導下，亞馬遜推出了智能語音助手Echo，此后數百萬人開始跟電腦對話。

現在，亞馬遜又下了一個大賭注：家用機器人。

知情者稱，零售與云計算領域巨頭亞馬遜啟動了一項雄心勃勃的絕密計劃，要打造家用機器人。該項目代號維斯塔（Vesta），維斯塔是古羅馬神話中掌管爐灶、家庭和家人的女神。項目管理人格雷格·澤爾主管亞馬遜在美國加州森尼韋爾的Lab126硬件研發部門。Lab126負責多款亞馬遜設備的研發，比如Echo揚聲器、Fire TV機頂盒、Fire平板電腦和市場表現不佳的手機Fire Phone。

維斯塔項目萌生于幾年前，但直到今年，亞馬遜才開始積極地招兵買馬。Lab126部門的求職頁面有諸如“軟件工程師，機器人方向”、“首席傳感器工程師”等幾十個崗位。了解計劃的人士透露，亞馬遜希望在今年年底以前開始在公司員工的家中投放機器人，可能最早2019年推向大眾市場。但計劃日程可能會變動，亞馬遜的硬件項目有時會胎死腹中。

一位亞馬遜的發言人稱，公司對“傳聞和猜測”不予置評。

目前尚不清楚亞馬遜的機器人可能具有哪些功能。熟悉該項目的人士推測，“維斯塔”機器人可能是某種移動版的Echo內置語音助手Alexa，即使沒有購置Echo設備的用戶也可以方便使用。該機器人樣機配有先進的攝像頭和電腦視覺軟件，可以像自動駕駛汽車一樣在家中移動。蘋果公司前高管麥克斯·佩利主導電腦視覺研發。亞馬遜還從機器人行業聘請了專業機械工程師。

知情人士表示，維塔斯項目的機器人跟亞馬遜位于美國馬薩諸塞州和德國的子公司Amazon Robitcs設計的產品不一樣。該公司制造的機器人主要在亞馬遜倉庫里負責搬運商品，由此前的Kiva Systems公司設計。2012年亞馬遜以7.55億美元收購該公司后改名為Amazon Robitcs。

幾十年前，科技業就希望通過家用機器人提供陪伴，或完成基本的家務。早在1983年，美國電腦游戲廠商雅達利的創始人諾蘭·布什內爾就推出一款三英尺（約0.9米）高的雪人形象機器人Topo Robot。該機器人可以根據蘋果II電腦的編程指揮移動，但功能單一所以銷售慘淡。多年來，美國、日本和中國市場都曾推出服務型機器人，不過進步有限。美國機器人公司iRobot Corp.推出的Roomba只能吸塵掃地，就已在業內一枝獨秀，2002年以來售出超過2000萬臺。

最近，日本索尼和韓國LG電子也表現出對機器人感興趣。今年1月的國際消費類電子展覽會（CES）上，LG展示了一款Cloi，但演示時多次執行任務失敗。索尼則展出了新版的機器狗Aibo。20年前索尼發布了機器狗的概念，直到2005年左右開始發售初版。Aibo除了模仿狗叫也沒有多少別的本事（倒是可以編程踢足球）。新版機器狗售價1800美元，和去犬舍買一條真正的狗價格相當。

如今，電腦視覺、攝像頭、人工智能和語音激活技術進步迅速，提升了亞馬遜向市場推出機器人的可能。亞馬遜已明確表示，如果Prime會員用戶通過亞馬遜的設備購買更多產品，訂購更多服務，亞馬遜愿意為機器人提供部分補貼。這也意味著，不遠的將來主流消費者選購機器人會更輕松。

全球市場研究機構Research and Markets估算，到2023年消費類機器人的市場規模將從今年的54億美元左右增長到每年約150億美元。（財富中文網）

譯者：Pessy

審稿：夏林

Ten years ago, Amazon introduced the Kindle and established the appeal of reading on a digital device. Four years ago, Jeff Bezos and company rolled out the Echo, prompting millions of people to start talking to a computer.

Now Amazon is working on another big bet: robots for the home.

The retail and cloud computing giant has embarked on an ambitious, top-secret plan to build a domestic robot, according to people familiar with the plans. Codenamed “Vesta,” after the Roman goddess of the hearth, home and family, the project is overseen by Gregg Zehr, who runs Amazon’s Lab126 hardware research and development division based in Sunnyvale, Calif. Lab126 is responsible for Amazon devices such as the Echo speakers, Fire TV set-top-boxes, Fire tablets and the ill-fated Fire Phone.

The Vesta project originated a few years ago, but this year Amazon began to aggressively ramp up hiring. There are dozens of listings on the Lab 126 Jobs page for openings like “Software Engineer, Robotics” and “Principle Sensors Engineer.” People briefed on the plan say the company hopes to begin seeding the robots in employees’ homes by the end of this year, and potentially with consumers as early as 2019, though the timeline could change, and Amazon hardware projects are sometimes killed during gestation.

An Amazon spokesperson said the company doesn’t comment on “rumors and speculation.”

It’s unclear what tasks an Amazon robot might perform. People familiar with the project speculate that the Vesta robot could be a sort of mobile Alexa, accompanying customers in parts of their home where they don’t have Echo devices. Prototypes of the robots have advanced cameras and computer vision software and can navigate through homes like a self-driving car. Former Apple executive Max Paley is leading the work on computer vision. Amazon has also hired specialized mechanical engineers from the robotics industry.

The project is different than the robots designed by Amazon Robotics, a company subsidiary, in Massachusetts and Germany, people familiar with the project say. Amazon Robotics deploys robots in Amazon warehouses to move around goods and originated as a company called Kiva Systems, which Amazon acquired in 2012 for $775 million.

The promise of domestic robots that offer companionship or perform basic chores has tantalized the technology industry for decades. Nolan Bushnell, the founder of Atari, introduced the three-foot-tall, snowman-shaped Topo Robot back in 1983. Though it could be programmed to move around by an Apple II computer, it did little else and sold poorly. Subsequent attempts to produce useful robotic servants in the U.S., Japan and China over the years have performed only marginally better. iRobot Corp.’s Roomba, which only does one thing — vacuum — is the standout in the field and has sold more than 20 million units since 2002.

More recently, Sony and LG Electronics have shown interest in the category. In January at CES, LG showed off a robot called Cloi in a demonstration that failed multiple times. Sony demonstrated a new version of a robotic dog called Aibo, which it sold a version of until the mid-2000s after first unveiling the concept about 20 years ago. It doesn’t do much other than bark (although Aibo has been programmed to play soccer). The canine bot also costs $1,800, or about the same price as a real dog from a breeder.

Advances in computer vision technology, cameras, artificial intelligence and voice activation help make it feasible for Amazon to bring its robot to the marketplace. The retail giant has shown itself willing to partially subsidize the costs of its devices for Prime subscribers who buy more products and subscribe to services through its gadgets. That could also make such a product more affordable for mainstream consumers in the future.

The consumer robot market will be worth about $15 billion a year by 2023, according to an estimate from Research and Markets, which would be up from about $5.4 billion this year.