Most crowdfunded robots fall in one of two camps: Either it patrols the home or is serves as a tool to better teach robotics and programming concepts. The Mimic, though, is a different beast. This rotund little robot combines robotics with elements of virtual reality to create something completely new.
That said, the Mimic is pretty small. At a little under 13 inches, it doesn’t impress at first glance. But the robot itself isn’t the draw, even though it does sport patent-pending technology — but more on that later. The Mimic really shines is when a user puts on its googles, grabs its arm controller, and places their feet on the Mimic’s foot controller. Like this, users can quite literally see what the Mimic sees and change its line of sight accordingly, naturally touch, grab and grip whatever they come across, and move its wheels in any direction. Together, it makes for a brand new experience that’s not centered around security or education.