Apple Unveils Expressive AI-Powered Robot Lamp, Hinting at Future Home Robotics

Apple engineers create expressive Pixar-like table lamp with AI capabilities

A team of engineers at Apple Computer has developed an expressive table lamp that interacts with a user rather than simply carrying out instructions. The group has posted a paper on the arXiv preprint server describing the factors that went into the development of the lamp and its current features. They have also posted several videos showing the robot lamp in action. Many people have seen the movie called Luxo Jr., a short, animated film made by Pixar back in 1986. Luxo Jr. made an impression via its human-like behavior. It shrank back when surprised, for example, or leaned forward at times as though getting a better look at something, which made the viewer forget it had no eyes. It was just a desk lamp. In this new effort, the team at Apple has resurrected the idea behind Luxo Jr. by creating a lamp that behaves very much the same. It can see via camera, hear via microphone, speak via speaker and move courtesy of tiny motors. Its purpose, like any ordinary lamp, is to provide light via a bulb. But it does so as if it is aware of the needs of its owner. It can move its "face" closer, for example, by interpreting a beckoning gesture, or move farther away via a pushing gesture -- or by responding to an oral request. It incorporates AI, as it demonstrates by first looking out the window before checking online when asked about the near-term forecast. The research team suggests that the introduction of robots into homes is more likely to be via giving personality to home appliances, as opposed to setting loose a full-size humanoid. They also suggest virtually any appliance could be given some degree of expressiveness, and they demonstrate how. They note that when a person is asked a question, they tend to react in physical ways before responding, quite often with accompanying physical movements. If a person is confused by a question, for example, they may pull their face back a bit and furrow their brow -- and they might smile when an answer comes to them. The researchers also note that giving appliances personality can make life more pleasant -- their lamp begins dancing if music is turned on, for example, somewhat reminiscent of a pet cockatoo. They also demonstrate the usefulness of adding AI -- their lamp is able to move its position to illuminate something a user is trying to examine, they note, without being asked.

Apple's Expressive Robot Lamp Acts Like a Real-Life Pixar Mascot

Freelance writer Amanda C. Kooser covers gadgets and tech news with a twist for CNET. When not wallowing in weird gear and iPad apps for cats, she can be found tinkering with her 1956 DeSoto. Animation studio Pixar has long charmed audiences with Luxo Jr., the charismatic desk lamp who hops onto the capital I in PIXAR in the logo of every Pixar film. Luxo Jr. is a fictional character, but a team of researchers at Apple has created a real robot that looks like the Pixar mascot come to (artificial) life. The robotics scientists and engineers detailed the project in a paper shared to Apple's Machine Learning Research site in January under the topic of human-computer interaction. The post summarizes the research and includes an eye-catching video of a robot desk lamp in action. The prototype robot shows off a variety of behaviors. It knocks over some wood blocks like a naughty cat. It follows a book around as it's moved so that it always shines light on the pages. It reacts to a person waving at it to show it where to turn. It behaves more like a cute and helpful pet than a cold and calculating robot. Read more: There Sure Are a Lot of Robots at CES: Here's Why We're Not Picking a Favorite The paper - ELEGNT: Expressive and Functional Movement Design for Non-anthropomorphic Robot - is available on arXiv. This open-access research archive hosts studies prior to peer review and publication in journals. The paper details a framework for making non-human robots both engaging and utilitarian. The researchers designed six different task scenarios to see how users react to a robot that behaves in a purely functional manner versus a robot that behaves in an expressive manner - like Luxo Jr. comes across on screen. The contrast is notable. In a task requiring the robot to light an object for photography, the functional machine primarily holds still, only moving in direct response to user input. The expressive robot sways its lampshade and appears to "look" at the user as it responds. In another task, the robot fields the question, "How is the weather today?" The expressive robot looks out the window as if checking the conditions before answering. Its motions and responses evoke a sense of emotion despite its lack of a human or animal-like face. It's endearing, while the functional robot comes off as a stoic tool. Read more: We Interviewed Aria, a $175K Almost-Human Robot at CES 2025 Nearly two dozen participants watched videos of the robot completing tasks and rated their perception of the robot and its interaction with the person in the video. The paper found "that expression-driven movements significantly enhance user engagement and perceived robot qualities." The positive perception was especially strong with social-oriented tasks related to entertainment and conversations. The desk lamp form for the prototype was a deliberate choice. The researchers gave a shout-out to the 1986 Pixar Luxo Jr. short film that features the now-iconic desk lamp playing with a ball under the watchful eye of a bigger desk lamp that acts as a parental figure. "Although primarily appliance-like, it incorporates subtle anthropomorphic elements - such as the lamp head and the arm connecting the head to the stand - that evoke the appearance of a head and neck," the team wrote. Apple may be known for phones, computers and apps, but it's eyeing big moves in the home robotics space, according to a Bloomberg report last year. It could be a natural move for the tech behemoth, which has invested heavily in AI and introduced Apple Intelligence into iOS. Home robots could open a new avenue for hardware sales while leveraging the company's work in AI and machine learning. Apple didn't immediately respond to a request for comment on the lamp robot. The paper is a peek behind the curtains at a direction Apple could go with home robots. This robot lamp isn't just a lump of metal and plastic. It's more like a buddy than a machine.

This Pixar-Inspired Robot Lamp Is the First Apple Intelligence Device I Really Want

For those who love Pixar's Luxo Jr., Apple's engineers developed a lamp that swivels with excitement as it obeys your every whim. Fourteen years ago, the CG wizards at Pixar made us all believe a faceless desk lamp could be enormously expressive and incredibly cute. Apple, with its mind set on home robotics, shows us how such an adorable lamp would look like in real life. The tech giant has been working on a lamp that's a little goofy while it tries to respond to your requests, and it may be the one Apple Intelligence-enabled device I want in my lifeâ€"more than any AI assistant on my iPhone. Apple’s Machine Learning Research division posted a relatively short research paper to Arxiv preprint repository last month detailing its “expressive and functional movement design for non-anthropomorphic robot.†MacRumors spotted the article and uploaded a YouTube video of the expressive lamp in action. It’s a device that’s immediately reminiscent of Pixar’s mascot Luxo Jr., and it's somehow just as cute. Engineers gestured to get the lamp to move forward or look in a particular direction. Rather than simply moving linearly, the lamp acted equal parts confused and curious, with various states of “attention,†“attitude,†and “expression,†according to the paper. Apple calls this framework ELEGNT, a clumsy acronym for “expressive and functional movement design for non-anthropomorphic robot.†You know what, Apple may be on the money here. The expressive robot is far more entertaining than one that merely does what you tell it to. In one highlight, the robot arm tried to extend to look at a note that its arm couldn't reach, before shaking its head in dejection and apologizing with an AI-generated voice. In another part of the video, a user asked the lamp for the weather. The robot looked outside, looked back, then told the forecast (the action was time the AI uses to send to a generative model and process that information). It then asked if it was invited on a hiking trip with its owner, then looked disappointed when it was told no. The tricky thing is to make it functional while still having the so-called “attitude.†I remember the struggles of playing The Last Guardian on PlayStation 4, where negotiating with a giant beast that was as likely to follow players' orders as an actual puppy was at times endearing, yet tedious and occasionally rage-inducing. The other aspect to this "ELEGNT" device is whether the expressive movements add to the emotionality of what’s otherwise staid and boring speech you typically get from AI chatbots. No matter what, the bot is still just playing pretend. The only thing that matters is if it's convincing enough you can forget its speech and body language are generated based on algorithms. There’s more than a little speculation about how Apple wants to intrude into smart home tech that's more than just another HomePod. The latest rumors from trusted sources at Bloomberg claim Apple's engineers are crafting a touchscreen at the end of a robotic arm. The arm is supposed to follow you and respond to you, hands free with the help of AI. It’s the kind of idea that’s neat in concept, though cost and practicability inevitably hinder these kinds of Jetsons-style future tech. These expressive interactions may set any upcoming smart home tech apart from the many other smart screens on the market. Apple’s engineers heavily cite a 2014 paper in the Journal of Human-Robot Interaction by Guy Hoffman and Wendy Ju, both associate professors at Cornell University. Many of those technology tests for that earlier research were done with a “Wizard of Oz†techniqueâ€"essentially there’s a “man behind the curtain†controlling the bot. With the wide-ranging improvements in robotics and AI, we should be able to see how this works when nobody’s controlling these interactions (though nobody apparently told the Tesla team that). More recent reports note Apple is developing a smart home camera and another smart home display to compete with AI-enabled Google Nest cameras or Amazon’s Echo Show. This new drive for smart home tech will likely push the Apple Intelligence angle even further, though inevitably Apple hopes to entice customers to the warm bosom of its walled garden. Why buy any other brand that may or may not work with Apple, when you could just buy Apple (though at a premium price).