Code Engraved | Keyi Tech Launches Loona, Another Kickstarter Smash Hit

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Source: 36Kr Starting in August, the robotics sector suddenly heated up. Xiaomi beat Tesla to the punch by unveiling CyberOne, its first full-size bipedal humanoid robot. Shortly after Amazon's $1.7 billion acquisition of iRobot, the pioneer of robot vacuums, it finally launched Astro, a two-wheeled home-roaming robot priced at a steep $1,450. Tesla's Optimus prototype made its scheduled debut — though it fell somewhat short of sky-high expectations, it was at least cheaper than a car, and its actual utility remains to be proven over time. Robotics seems to have entered another Warring States era.

On September 16, Chinese robotics company Keyi Tech quietly launched its new product Loona on Kickstarter. Within just three hours, it had crowdfunded over 1,000 units.

As of October 21, Loona's crowdfunding has exceeded $2.5 million

Loona went on to surpass $2 million in sales on Kickstarter in just half a month, becoming the platform's second-biggest hit of Q3. It is now on track to raise over $3 million total, which would make it the most-funded consumer robot in Kickstarter history.

Loona is a robot that's hard to pin down with a single descriptor.

Loona

It packs 5 TOPS of on-device computing power, so even completely offline, it can wander around freely and strike cute poses at will. For context, mainstream L2+ advanced driver-assistance systems in last year's passenger vehicle market required only 2.2 TOPS.

Powerful CPU performance

It really does resemble an ultra-miniature puppy, and presumably through software updates, it could become an eccentric little cat too. Through subtle movements of its ears, eyes, and limbs, plus its gaze and expressions, it can convey over 700 different emotions — with more to come, since Loona has an open community where owners can not only share but also create new traits through simple programming.

In fact, Loona outperforms Boston Dynamics' quadruped Spot in terms of movement fluidity, character interactivity, and emotional engagement — helped by its compact size and light, agile movements.

Of course, when it comes to functionality, Loona may fall short of Astro, that $1,450 machine capable of ferrying a Xinhua Dictionary around the house. But then again, Loona's early-bird crowdfunding price was just $299 (retail $449).

Clicbot and Loona

Last year, 36Kr also covered Keyi Tech's other hit modular robot product, "Clicbot."

Loona and Clicbot aim to be clever enough that their owners can forget they're robots at all.

A Robot Needs Character Design,

Otherwise It's Just a Pile of Motors and Chips

"Loona has over 1,000 distinct movements. Blending them together organically requires a complex software architecture," Jianbo Yang, founder and CEO of Keyi Tech, told 36Kr. "And we feel Loona's sense of life doesn't come from how many degrees of freedom it has, but from continuous blending — a very subtle process where designers and animators work together to achieve exquisite coordination of expressions, sounds, and movements." Loona is equipped with substantial hardware: a Cortex A53 CPU, a Cortex M4 co-processor, and a dual-core DSP audio processor, enabling consistently quick responses. With 3D-ToF cameras and other perception sensors plus algorithmic support, Loona can perform facial recognition, body detection, gesture recognition, 3D motion capture, object recognition, emotion perception, and marker recognition.

Facial recognition

Skeleton recognition

Human following

Yang elaborated: Loona's R&D team includes over 15 character designers who watch extensive nature documentaries to extract various expressions, movements, and emotional cues from animals, then infuse that soul into Loona. "We didn't simply copy dogs' or cats' daily behaviors. Though it took enormous effort, this was actually an elegant approach that keeps Loona lighter, more compact, and more agile."

Rich expressions

Loona can walk up to a table's edge and pause to look down, cat-like. It can recognize its owner and follow them, dog-like, automatically avoiding obstacles along the way.

Edge detection

Call out "Hi, Loona" from any direction, and she'll quickly come to you.

Built-in circular microphone array can identify sound direction

Loona can also understand owner commands, like asking it to spin around or dance.

Voice command support

Beyond that, Loona can chase a laser pointer's dot, cat-like; or you can toss a ball for her to fetch, dog-like.

Ball trajectory tracking

Ball trajectory tracking

In appearance and behavior, Loona aligns more closely with consumers' notion of a "pet." But Loona is far more than just an electronic pet.

A Unique Positioning That Allows Competition Across Multiple Categories

Keyi Tech conducted thorough consumer research when initially defining Loona. The company believes companion robots must appeal to the whole family, especially children, and that a pet-like design makes them better suited to become new family members. Companion robots should also sense users' actions and behaviors, and through rich, engaging interactions and healing expressions, meet the needs of more people craving companionship.

From a month of crowdfunding comments, it's clear Loona satisfies consumers' desire for companion robots. People with psychological needs for companionship — such as those with Alzheimer's, depression, autism, or PTSD — particularly love pet robots. Loona can keep them company like a real pet, without the burden of pet care.

Loona and pets

As the "loneliness economy" era arrives, younger consumer segments show increasingly diverse demands for companionship. According to iResearch's 2021 China Pet Consumption Trends White Paper, China's pet industry already approached 300 billion yuan in 2020 and is projected to reach 445.6 billion yuan by 2023. The drawbacks of real pet ownership are becoming market opportunities for companion robots, and feedback from surveys and crowdfunding suggests Loona will be a top choice for this segment.

Amazon has long coveted the home robot market, and with Astro's launch, it hopes to maximally integrate home monitoring, mobile voice assistant, and family companionship functions.

Looking at home monitoring specifically: in the first half of 2022, domestic sales of home security cameras reached 9.45 million units with revenue exceeding 2 billion yuan, surpassing AI speakers to become the new favorite smart device category.

Loona can serve as an upgraded replacement for security cameras. Compared to current mainstream products, Loona offers not just video interaction but also free movement — one Loona can achieve full home coverage with no blind spots.

Remote control

In fact, with its compact form factor, multiple sensor configurations, and strong computing power, Loona can also replace smart speakers, sleep breathing monitors, and other devices, even serving as a hub for smart home systems.

Loona plans to add Home Assistant support in April 2023, enabling control of other smart home devices through Loona.

Additionally, Loona is an open platform for content and gameplay, meeting STEAM education needs and enabling continuous innovation by content developers. A character editor is planned for June 2023, allowing users to program Loona's movements, expressions, sounds, and interactions using various sensors.

Not Relying on Hit Products,

Hoping Every Product Can Be Bought for Ten Years or More

In March 2022, Keyi Tech opened its first global ClicBot flagship store in Beijing's CBD Guomao Mall. The store design, by a Finnish designer team, artfully blended technology, art, and environmental consciousness, becoming a gathering and competition space for ClicBot's young users.

ClicBot flagship store competition event

According to Yang, the store achieved break-even in just three months.

ClicBot flagship store weekend salon

On product strategy, he said: Both Loona and ClicBot will have long lifecycles, so they'll follow a controlled iteration process and gradual household adoption curve. After all, these products are primarily about fostering children's creativity, and users' understanding of creativity deepens over time. Keyi Tech isn't in a rush — it won't sacrifice product experience for rapid user growth by pursuing extreme cost-performance. And both Loona and ClicBot have sufficiently high technology and ecosystem barriers. Especially on the ecosystem side, both have independent global communities, and have built comprehensive moats spanning community operations, UGC, and user experience.

In September 2022, at the launch event for Xiaomi's Civi 2 smartphone, the Mijia Modular Robot designed by Keyi Tech made its debut. Also featuring a modular design with perception, movement, and graphical programming capabilities, it opened up new market channels for Keyi Tech.

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