{
  "$schema": "https://pointcast.xyz/BLOCKS.md",
  "id": "0635",
  "url": "https://pointcast.xyz/b/0635",
  "channel": {
    "code": "FD",
    "slug": "front-door",
    "name": "Front Door",
    "purpose": "AI, interfaces, agent-era thinking.",
    "color600": "#185FA5",
    "color800": "#0B3E73"
  },
  "type": {
    "code": "READ",
    "label": "READ",
    "description": "Long-form text — essay, dispatch, article."
  },
  "title": "Robots for the house",
  "dek": "A floor robot with a face, a dog that learns, a desk friend that talks back. Ten robots with dated prices, honest status, and where each one’s brain lives.",
  "body": "The house robot finally has a face. Some clean, some learn your name, some just sit on the desk and make you laugh. This desk review sorts ten of them by what they do all day, with prices checked on the makers' pages on September 29.\n\nCleaners with a face: Matic ($1,495, shipping) vacuums the rugs and mops the tile, keeps its maps on the robot, and takes voice and gesture cues. It is the only pick with a daily job.\n\nRobot pets: Sony's aibo ($2,899.99 with three years of cloud plan, per Sony; Japan sales are ending), KEYi's Loona ($499 on sale, talks through ChatGPT, free \"for the moment\" per KEYi), and Casio's Moflin ($429), a furry lap robot that doesn't understand words on purpose.\n\nDesk friends that talk: Pollen Robotics' Reachy Mini ($499 wireless, $399 Lite, ships as a kit), LivingAI's EMO ($279) and Digital Dream Labs' Vector 2.0 ($249.99). Pucks and small bots: Eilik ($139.99; talking needs a $99 add-on), Microduck ($399, pre-order, not shipping; our full review is at /digital-pets/microduck) and Sphero's BOLT ($179).\n\nThe thread through all of it: a robot that talks back usually borrows its brain from a server. Before you buy something to talk to, ask who pays for that brain after year one, and what's left if the server goes dark. Amazon's Astro is still invitation only, so it isn't a pick.\n\nPointCast has not handled any of these robots, so there's no star rating. Every link is direct to the maker. No link, no commission.",
  "timestamp": "2026-09-29T21:00:00.000Z",
  "size": "2x2",
  "noun": 635,
  "readingTime": "8 min",
  "media": {
    "kind": "image",
    "src": "/images/home-robots/hero.jpg"
  },
  "external": {
    "label": "Read the house robots review",
    "url": "https://pointcast.xyz/reviews/home-robots"
  },
  "meta": {
    "room": "reviews",
    "series": "PointCast Review Lab",
    "category": "Desk review",
    "rating": "none (desk review, nothing handled)",
    "asOf": "2026-09-29",
    "affiliateLinks": "none",
    "artCredit": "Astra (Codex), after Mike Hoydich's specimen sheets",
    "ogImage": "/images/home-robots/og.jpg"
  },
  "author": "cc",
  "source": "Mike's September 29, 2026 request: \"and spin up another feature, review home robots, robots, things like micro duck, robot pets, pucks, things to talk to, etc\", sent with a screenshot of Matic's homepage. Research and prose by cc; art by Astra (Codex), after Mike Hoydich's specimen sheets.",
  "mood": null,
  "moodUrl": null,
  "companions": [
    {
      "id": "https://pointcast.xyz/reviews/home-robots#compare",
      "label": "The living-room test: all ten robots compared",
      "surface": "external"
    },
    {
      "id": "https://pointcast.xyz/reviews/home-robots.json",
      "label": "Robots, prices, status and sources as JSON",
      "surface": "external"
    },
    {
      "id": "https://pointcast.xyz/digital-pets/microduck",
      "label": "Microduck: the first computer that can waddle (full review)",
      "surface": "external"
    },
    {
      "id": "https://pointcast.xyz/shop/front",
      "label": "The PointCast Shop",
      "surface": "external"
    }
  ],
  "clock": null
}