Apple’s engineers are working on a personal robot that is meant to follow people around their home, reported Bloomberg this week, citing anonymous sources.
Another potential project includes a table-top device meant for at-home use that is powered by robotics in order to make the display mobile, per the outlet.
However, Apple has not officially confirmed or denied reports of the new projects, which are believed to be in the initial stages. They may also be scrapped in the future if they are not deemed viable by the company.
The iPhone-maker’s hardware engineering division as well as its AI and machine-learning group are reportedly involved in the project, reported Bloomberg.
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Apple also has a secret facility in California’s Cupertino that looks like a home, so that its engineers can experiment with products and concepts meant for residential use, per the outlet.
In February this year, Apple released its premium Vision Pro mixed-reality headset that retails at over $3,000. In tandem, the company tried to push forward its own approach to mixed reality that it calls “spatial computing”.
On the legal front, the iPhone-maker is facing a high-profile civil antitrust lawsuit filed by the U.S. Justice Department as well as 16 other state and district attorneys general, taking aim at the company’s dominance in the smartphone sector.