Sponsored Content by Roborock

The Next-Gen Smart Vacuum Isn’t Just a Vacuum

A paradigm shift has swept through the smart home industry, emphasizing not just functionality but also intuitive capabilities in home cleaning devices. It’s no longer a futuristic dream to tell your vacuum to switch from suction to mopping mode, targeting spills or giving your hard floors a thorough cleanse. Yet despite these innovations, the industry is at a crossroads: Home cleaning devices can do more than ever, but all too often, people can’t use them as easily as they want to.

That’s why Roborock, a pioneering leader in smart home cleaning, isn’t just building vacuums—it’s developing smart companions that understand home and cleaning needs like never before. Imagine commanding your cleaning assistant with a simple voice prompt or effortlessly integrating it into your smart home ecosystem. With cutting-edge tech and thoughtful design, Roborock strives to make a cleaning experience a seamless, automatic, and intuitive part of daily life, setting a new standard for smart home technology that truly listens to what customers want.

Investing in consumer-centric solutions

With smart homes getting smarter, the global smart vacuum cleaner market is projected to grow from $11.97 billion in 2021 to $50.65 billion in 2028. However, at this moment of breakthrough innovation, there’s a paradox at play in the market: Shipments of smart home devices are declining, according to an IDC analysis, and Gen Z shows the least satisfaction among consumer groups despite increasing interest in smart homes. The decline in smart home device shipments raises questions about the gap between consumer expectations and delivered experiences.

Smart home gadgets simply don’t work as they should, according to IDC research. Most commonly, people discover that many smart devices don’t provide the promised level of convenience—and, in some cases, even add complexity to the cleaning process. Many have a hard time integrating their smart vacuums into existing home ecosystems, like Alexa and Google Assistant, leading to a disjointed experience. Families, especially those with pets or kids, expressed dissatisfaction with the lack of customized solutions.

In a recent white paper, “Autonomous Cleaning Changes the Game for the Future of Smart Vacuums,” Roborock investigated how innovations in smart cleaning technology can address these consumer frustrations. The heart of the message? By revolutionizing smart cleaning tech, Roborock is making our homes not just smarter but more in tune with what we need. It’s all about creating a seamless, enjoyable experience for everyone. Central to their approach is the importance of autonomous cleaning—employing intelligent sensors and technology to enable devices that adapt to their environment and adjust cleaning routines.

The company’s response to market demands includes incorporation of advanced interoperability and voice control features, notably the intelligent voice assistant, which empowers users with hands-free control. Simply by saying “Hello Rocky,” users can schedule when, where, and how to clean and adjust cleaning settings, allowing a hands-free cleaning experience. 

Roborock’s commitment to a customer-centric approach also shines through in its innovative use of LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) technology. By leveraging next-gen LiDAR sensors, a smart vacuum can measure distances with high resolution and create a virtual, highly accurate blueprint of its surroundings. This precision is indispensable in obstacle detection and avoidance, allowing a vacuum to avoid collision with household objects or pets.

The resulting LiDAR data isn’t merely detected: Instead, it actively informs the cleaning process. By creating and utilizing virtual maps of a home, Roborock devices can optimize every cleaning session, remembering and adapting to the unique setup of each room. Thanks to these advanced navigation features, Roborock took the spotlight as this year’s Wirecutter pick for the best smart vacuum.

Roborock’s core philosophy is that a smart cleaning device should clean as good as a person.  But conventional cleaning solutions often miss tricky spots like corners and edges, undermining the essence of autonomous cleaning. Enter the VibraRise mopping system—a distinctive feature in Roborock’s advanced robotic vacuum cleaners. This cleaning-tech uses rapid vibrations to enhance the mopping pad’s effectiveness by providing steady contact with various floor surfaces using the FlexiArm Design Side Brush, an adjustable component that adds pressure to the mop pad as it cleans. When Roborock detects those tricky corners and spaces beneath furniture, the FlexiArm extends automatically, conquering once-inaccessible areas for an exceptionally efficient edge cleaning. 

“At Roborock, whenever we create a smart vacuum, a washer-dryer, or a new cleaning gadget, we always start by asking ourselves one essential question,” said Gang Quan, President of Roborock. “Do these features that we’re introducing genuinely enhance our users’ experience?”

Redefining the smart home experience

Roborock’s commitment to revolutionizing and consolidating the smart home experience extends beyond vacuum technology, as highlighted in their recent panel at CES 2024. The discussion underscored how Roborock’s transformative approach is aimed at redefining the way consumers interact with their homes, specifically regarding the integration of AI and IoT. 

 

Through its advanced AI capabilities, Roborock devices can perform complex tasks such as navigation, obstacle avoidance, and optimized cleaning paths. Its Reactive AI 2.0 Obstacle Recognition uses a 3D structured light and RGB camera so smart vacuums can recognize different obstacles, adjusting a cleaning route instantly to avoid collisions. When dealing with stubborn stains, the Intelligent Dirt Detection system kicks in, ensuring thorough cleaning by revisiting and targeting these areas. And for pet owners who might struggle with the extra mess that comes with owning a furry companion, Roborock also has a dedicated Pet Mode which recognizes pets and pet supplies like bowls and beds, automatically providing higher suction around these items for a perfect clean every time. 

“We develop technology so that people can spend more time on the things they love and less time on chores like cleaning,” Quan said during the CES panel.

Through AI and seamless connectivity, Roborock wants to create an interconnected ecosystem within the home, where devices communicate effortlessly between each other to understand and anticipate user needs. Think of it like the Jetsons, where the harmony of automation transforms homes into intelligent spaces that proactively cater to individual preferences, allowing occupants to enjoy a future where technology serves as an invisible, intuitive assistant, enhancing the overall quality of life. In this future, homes are not just smart but genuinely attuned to the daily rhythm of the people who inhabit them.

“At Roborock, we’re passionate about redefining how technology interacts with your daily life,” Quan said. “Our aim is to create technology that blends into people’s daily routines, intuitively understanding users and operating in harmony with other smart devices.”

Embrace the future of smart living: Visit Roborock.com to find the perfect smart vacuum for your home.

More TechCrunch

Founder-market fit is one of the most crucial factors in a startup’s success, and operators (someone involved in the day-to-day operations of a startup) turned founders have an almost unfair advantage…

OpenseedVC, which backs operators in Africa and Europe starting their companies, reaches first close of $10M fund

A Singapore High Court has effectively approved Pine Labs’ request to shift its operations to India.

Pine Labs gets Singapore court approval to shift base to India

The AI Safety Institute, a U.K. body that aims to assess and address risks in AI platforms, has said it will open a second location in San Francisco. 

UK opens office in San Francisco to tackle AI risk

Companies are always looking for an edge, and searching for ways to encourage their employees to innovate. One way to do that is by running an internal hackathon around a…

Why companies are turning to internal hackathons

Women in tech still face a shocking level of mistreatment at work. Melinda French Gates is one of the few working to change that.

I’m rooting for Melinda French Gates to fix tech’s  broken ‘brilliant jerk’ culture

Blue Origin has successfully completed its NS-25 mission, resuming crewed flights for the first time in nearly two years. The mission brought six tourist crew members to the edge of…

Blue Origin successfully launches its first crewed mission since 2022

Creative Artists Agency (CAA), one of the top entertainment and sports talent agencies, is hoping to be at the forefront of AI protection services for celebrities in Hollywood. With many…

Hollywood agency CAA aims to help stars manage their own AI likenesses

Expedia says Rathi Murthy and Sreenivas Rachamadugu, respectively its CTO and senior vice president of core services product & engineering, are no longer employed at the travel booking company. In…

Expedia says two execs dismissed after ‘violation of company policy’

Welcome back to TechCrunch’s Week in Review. This week had two major events from OpenAI and Google. OpenAI’s spring update event saw the reveal of its new model, GPT-4o, which…

OpenAI and Google lay out their competing AI visions

When Jeffrey Wang posted to X asking if anyone wanted to go in on an order of fancy-but-affordable office nap pods, he didn’t expect the post to go viral.

With AI startups booming, nap pods and Silicon Valley hustle culture are back

OpenAI’s Superalignment team, responsible for developing ways to govern and steer “superintelligent” AI systems, was promised 20% of the company’s compute resources, according to a person from that team. But…

OpenAI created a team to control ‘superintelligent’ AI — then let it wither, source says

A new crop of early-stage startups — along with some recent VC investments — illustrates a niche emerging in the autonomous vehicle technology sector. Unlike the companies bringing robotaxis to…

VCs and the military are fueling self-driving startups that don’t need roads

When the founders of Sagetap, Sahil Khanna and Kevin Hughes, started working at early-stage enterprise software startups, they were surprised to find that the companies they worked at were trying…

Deal Dive: Sagetap looks to bring enterprise software sales into the 21st century

Keeping up with an industry as fast-moving as AI is a tall order. So until an AI can do it for you, here’s a handy roundup of recent stories in the world…

This Week in AI: OpenAI moves away from safety

After Apple loosened its App Store guidelines to permit game emulators, the retro game emulator Delta — an app 10 years in the making — hit the top of the…

Adobe comes after indie game emulator Delta for copying its logo

Meta is once again taking on its competitors by developing a feature that borrows concepts from others — in this case, BeReal and Snapchat. The company is developing a feature…

Meta’s latest experiment borrows from BeReal’s and Snapchat’s core ideas

Welcome to Startups Weekly! We’ve been drowning in AI news this week, with Google’s I/O setting the pace. And Elon Musk rages against the machine.

Startups Weekly: It’s the dawning of the age of AI — plus,  Musk is raging against the machine

IndieBio’s Bay Area incubator is about to debut its 15th cohort of biotech startups. We took special note of a few, which were making some major, bordering on ludicrous, claims…

IndieBio’s SF incubator lineup is making some wild biotech promises

YouTube TV has announced that its multiview feature for watching four streams at once is now available on Android phones and tablets. The Android launch comes two months after YouTube…

YouTube TV’s ‘multiview’ feature is now available on Android phones and tablets

CSC ServiceWorks provides laundry machines to thousands of residential homes and universities, but the company ignored requests to fix a security bug.

Two Santa Cruz students uncover security bug that could let millions do their laundry for free

TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 is just around the corner, and the buzz is palpable. But what if we told you there’s a chance for you to not just attend, but also…

Harness the TechCrunch Effect: Host a Side Event at Disrupt 2024

Decks are all about telling a compelling story and Goodcarbon does a good job on that front. But there’s important information missing too.

Pitch Deck Teardown: Goodcarbon’s $5.5M seed deck

Slack is making it difficult for its customers if they want the company to stop using its data for model training.

Slack under attack over sneaky AI training policy

A Texas-based company that provides health insurance and benefit plans disclosed a data breach affecting almost 2.5 million people, some of whom had their Social Security number stolen. WebTPA said…

Healthcare company WebTPA discloses breach affecting 2.5 million people

Microsoft won’t be facing antitrust scrutiny in the U.K. over its recent investment into French AI startup Mistral AI.

Microsoft dodges UK antitrust scrutiny over its Mistral AI stake

Ember has partnered with HSBC in the U.K. so that the bank’s business customers can access Ember’s services from their online accounts.

Embedded finance is still trendy as accounting automation startup Ember partners with HSBC UK

Kudos uses AI to figure out consumer spending habits so it can then provide more personalized financial advice, like maximizing rewards and utilizing credit effectively.

Kudos lands $10M for an AI smart wallet that picks the best credit card for purchases

The EU’s warning comes after Microsoft failed to respond to a legally binding request for information that focused on its generative AI tools.

EU warns Microsoft it could be fined billions over missing GenAI risk info

The prospects for troubled banking-as-a-service startup Synapse have gone from bad to worse this week after a United States Trustee filed an emergency motion on Wednesday.  The trustee is asking…

A US Trustee wants troubled fintech Synapse to be liquidated via Chapter 7 bankruptcy, cites ‘gross mismanagement’

U.K.-based Seraphim Space is spinning up its 13th accelerator program, with nine participating companies working on a range of tech from propulsion to in-space manufacturing and space situational awareness. The…

Seraphim’s latest space accelerator welcomes nine companies