According to documents and video meeting recordings obtained by Vice, engineers aren’t exactly thrilled by the $999 robot they came up with for Amazon.<\/b>
\nAccording to developer documents and video meeting recordings obtained by Vice, the engineers behind Amazon\u2019s new $999 robot aren\u2019t thrilled with the finished product. The e-retailer recently announced the Astro, a stalkerish two-wheeled robot designed to keep track of everything you do, and even spy on anybody unlucky enough to enter your home. Even if you sign on to that troubling premise, the bot\u2019s developers apparently weren\u2019t happy with the final product. \u201cAstro is terrible and will almost certainly throw itself down a flight of stairs if presented the opportunity,\u201d an unnamed developer said, as quoted by Vice. \u201cThe person detection is unreliable at best, making the in-home security proposition laughable.\u201d \u201cThe device feels fragile for something with an absurd cost,\u201d the developer added. Vice \u2018s source also criticized the device\u2019s marketing as an accessibility device, telling the outlet that it\u2019s \u201cat best, absurdist nonsense and marketing and, at worst, potentially dangerous for anyone who\u2019d actually rely on it for accessibility purposes.\u201d A second source who also worked on the project called it \u201ca disaster that\u2019s not ready for release,\u201d noting that \u201cthey break themselves and will almost certainly fall down stairs in real world users\u2019 homes.\u201d Senior PR manager Kristy Schmidt called the allegations \u201csimply inaccurate,\u201d telling Vice that the robot \u201cwent through rigorous testing on both quality and safety, including tens of thousands of hours of testing with beta participants.\u201d It\u2019s almost poetic: a highly invasive robot hellbent on throwing itself down a flight of stairs. Astro represents the kind of future we\u2019ve been warning about for all these years: a largely autonomous robot actively spying on strangers, developed by a company that has built its success on collecting every bit of information it can glean from its customers. Fortunately, it isn\u2019t likely to fly off the shelves given its hefty price tag. READ MORE: Leaked Documents Show How Amazon\u2019s Astro Robot Tracks Everything You Do [ Vice] More on Amazon: Companies Are Ditching Drug Tests Because They\u2019re Blocking Good Candidates Futurism Readers: Find out how much you could save by switching to solar power at UnderstandSolar.com. By signing up through this link, Futurism.com may receive a small commission.<\/p>\n