Familiar

Model: familiar

A quadruped companion robot from Familiar Machines & Magic, the startup founded by iRobot co-founder and former CEO Colin Angle. About the size of a small dog with a bear-like appearance, the Familiar is covered in a touch-sensitive, 3D-knitted fuzzy exterior inspired by sneaker-industry materials. It features 23 degrees of freedom and walks autonomously around the home. Rather than relying on screens or voice, the Familiar communicates through body language, posture, and context-aware behavior — a nudge when you're doomscrolling, an excited greeting when you come home, or a nuzzle when you're stressed. An edge AI system with a compact multimodal model interprets facial expressions, gestures, and tone of voice to read the room and respond appropriately. Each Familiar develops a distinct personality that evolves over time through continued interaction, with a behavior engine trained on thousands of narrative vignettes. All processing runs locally on-device for privacy. The team behind Familiar includes alumni from iRobot (50 million+ Roombas shipped), Disney Imagineering, MIT, and Boston Dynamics. The company is based in Woburn, Massachusetts. First availability is planned for 2027.