In a bustling Palo Alto garage, Kind Humanoid is on a mission to bring robots into our homes.
This three-person startup, led by Christoph Kohstall, is collaborating with renowned designer Yves Béhar to create Mona, a humanoid robot designed for domestic settings. Unlike the industrial giants, Kind is focusing on home care, aiming to assist older adults in maintaining independence.
Kohstall’s garage is a hive of creativity, filled with flashing lights and makeshift tools. The team’s DIY spirit is evident in their early Mona prototypes, which look like something out of an '80s sci-fi film. But don’t be fooled by the chaos—Kohstall’s Silicon Valley pedigree includes a stint with Google Brain, and now, Béhar’s design expertise is helping refine Mona’s aesthetics.
Béhar’s vision for Mona is both whimsical and practical. The robot features a soft white exterior with rounded edges, avoiding the uncanny valley effect by steering clear of overly human-like features. Instead, Mona’s design draws inspiration from surrealist art, with a diamond-shaped head and a visor-like screen displaying serene cloud images to communicate its "thoughts."
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While most humanoid robots target industrial markets, Kind is breaking the mold by focusing on home environments. Kohstall believes humanoids excel in navigating complex, cluttered spaces, making them ideal for domestic care. The startup plans to field-test a dozen Mona robots next year, hoping to tap into the largely unexplored market of home care robotics.
Kind’s approach is refreshingly unconventional, prioritising innovation over fundraising. As Kohstall puts it, “Our team is focused on the innovation part, and that’s not something you just solve by throwing money at it.” With Béhar’s designs and a commitment to experimentation, Kind Humanoid is poised to redefine the role of robots in our daily lives.
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