This six-legged lamp can help your child with homework

Unlike some of the robots we saw at CES 2025, Wed-Mon it has no face, but still looks a little familiar thanks to its resemblance to the iconic Pixar lamp. Mi-Mo is still just a prototype, but there are some interesting ideas behind the unusual-looking robot walking around the exhibition.

Created by Japanese firm Jizai, the company describes it as a “general purpose artificial intelligence robot” that “thinks and acts” on its own. It has a built-in camera and microphones, allowing it to move and respond to voice directions and commands. It operates on multiple large language models that enable its voice and image recognition capabilities.

When we saw it, the Mi-Mo didn’t show much sign of being autonomous. Mostly it fluttered around the show floor and “waved” at people passing by, which was really cute. Jizai’s Yuji Oshima told me that the company envisions this as useful for some childcare tasks, like reminding kids to do their homework and then monitoring them to make sure they actually do it. (of Jizai website notes that the company is also interested in using robotics to care for the elderly.)

But Mi-Mo isn’t just built to be a watchdog. Oshima said it’s meant to be an open platform for developers, researchers and others to find their own ways to use the robot. Jizai also intends to be somewhat modular, so people can customize the Mi-Mo with custom software, additional sensors, or other hardware add-ons.

Jizai plans to make the Mi-Mo available as a developer kit later this year, and it’s already open source waiting list where interested parties can register for updates.