Carl is your trusty pair of eyes, ears, and even nose when you’re away from home, or even when you’re inside home. Constantly keeping an eye out for anything that may go wrong, from a burglary attempt to even a toaster being left on for too long, Carl can sense everything and can alert you in your home, or even remotely if there’s even the slightest problem.
The design for Carl comes from an age-old discussion about whether robots should look like humans, or should have their own visual identity that one superimposes human characters on (in short, a C3PO or an R2D2/BB-8). Carl’s design comes from pure function, and the designers opt for a more efficient wheel layout than legs. It communicates with its users via an app, or the display on top that also works as a massive on/off switch, revealing the cameras along the sides when the display raises upwards in the power on mode. The hole running through the center acts as an air intake where sensors can notice spikes in chemicals, knowing if there’s something burning or if there’s a gas leak. If there ever is such a scenario, Carl rushes to the point of emergency and provides a live video stream of the area with its notification, alerting you of anomalies. Pat Carl’s head and the display descends, putting the robot into its hibernate mode, so it isn’t spying on your house when you don’t want or need it to!
Designer: Design 3
