Shenzhen mech robot start-up wants to take us back to the good old days when robots were fun toys
GJS is making robots for hobbyists but also hoping to capitalise on educational market
While robots have been evolving to be of more use in people’s daily lives – from helping with household chores to making production lines more efficient – the founders of Shenzhen-based GJS Robot want to take us back to the days when they were purely fun, childhood toys.
GJS Robot, established in 2015, is the start-up behind app-controlled fighting bots Ganker and GEIO, which are equipped with sensors that can detect attacks and keep account of “bloods”, or the score, within the app controlling the robot.
Ganker, GJS Robot’s first product released in 2016, is a small fighting robot around 20 cm tall. The metal-framed humanoid robot can engage in hand-to-hand combat with a sword and other weapons. Its latest robot GEIO, released in 2017, is a first-person shooter for combat and racing, equipped with a camera that can recognise and track the face of the player controlling the robot, and its combat rivals as well.
The company is currently developing a third robot with upgraded features and game play, expected to be launched later this year or early next.
“We positioned ourselves in the entertainment robot market because we wanted to come back to the most primal demand of consumption, which is fun,” said Li Zhaohong, co-founder and chief technology officer of GJS Robot. “Robots don’t always have to be this grand concept that serves people or cures diseases.”
Li added that thus far, service robots haven’t had a substantial impact on people’s everyday lives, except for the robotic vacuum cleaners that have gained popularity in recent years.