SELF-DRIVING SUITCASES WOW CROWD IN VEGAS
LAS VEGAS: Self-driving cars may take a while to arrive, but the selfdriving suitcase is here now.
Some of the technologies used in autonomous cars have been adapted in products unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) here to help travellers deal with baggage.
The “robot suitcase” from California-based startup Travelmate can be controlled with a smartphone app and can roll alongside its owner at 11kph , navigating around obstacles.
“This is a robot which follows you around,” said Travelmate founder and president Maximillian Kovtun.
Travelmate designed the device, which integrates elements of artificial intelligence, to roll at a pace that matches that of the user, or it can be directed with the smartphone app in the same manner as a drone.
Priced at US$1,100 (RM4,390), it is slated to roll out next month for the United States market, and later in Europe and Japan.
A competing offering from ForwardX, a Chinese startup with offices in California, is designed to be used with facial recognition, without need for a smartphone application.
“It uses computer vision and a driving algorithm to have a clear path,” said founder Nicholas Chee, who showed a prototype at CES. The ForwardX suitcase has gesture control technology and can be immobilised to protect against theft.
Chee said he expected the launch in middle of this year at a price under US$1,000.
For the weariest of travellers, there is the Modobag, which lacks artificial intelligence but offers a sizeable perk instead: as a ride-on suitcase which can carry its owner along with their clothes. AFP