Mycroft reveals newest open source AI product
September 29, 2017 | Meghan LeVota
Kansas City-based artificial intelligence startup Mycroft AI revealed Wednesday its newest product during Techcrunch Disrupt’s Product Showcase in San Francisco.
The firm opened a Silicon Valley office in 2016, yet its headquarters remains in Kansas City.
Mycroft is an open-source device, similar to Amazon Echo, using natural language processing technology to enable its everyday use in a consumer’s home. With an open-source, open-hardware approach, Mycroft allows users across the globe to develop software and hardware add-ons.
The firm’s Mark 1 device is already on the market for $179.99. CEO Joshua Montgomery revealed the first public display of Mark 2 to a Techcrunch reporter.
“The Mark 2 is being designed for consumers to put on a desk or in your kitchen,” Montgomery told Techcrunch. “It provides a very similar experience to what you’ve come to expect from Google Home. but, it does it in an open way so you can build your own skills.”
Mycroft Mark 2
The Mark 2 device is expected to cost $99, Montgomery said. In addition to the new device being smaller than the Mark 1, it also features a screen.
A screen with a face.
“One of the unique things about the technology is that it’s anthropomorphic,” Montgomery said. “We’re doing animations on the screen that show the voice assistant responding to the user.
It’s personal and has a personality. It’s something that, ideally, you could build almost a friendship with.”
The Mark 2 screen also shows visual displays of the weather, calendar, and shopping lists, as well as video and music, Montgomery added.
Since its launch in 2015, developers have attached Mycroft technology to robots, refrigerators and cars. In February, Mycroft established a partnership with Jaguar Land Rover, providing the firm with a $110,000 investment and full-time engineering support.
Montgomery is a graduate of the Kansas City-based Sprint Accelerator and is a LaunchKC grant recipient. The firm is also participating in the Silicon Valley-based incubator 500 Startups’ 2017 cohort.
Mycroft was also named a Startland Top Startup to Watch in 2017. To watch the full video interview with Techcrunch, see below.
2017 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
What’s in a name? MindMixer gets new moniker
A year after its move to Kansas City, MindMixer is making a name change. Formerly based in Omaha, MindMixer now will go by the name of its new software product, mySidewalk, which engages communities to share ideas and stay informed of new initiatives. “Like all businesses, the more we learn about the people we serve,…
Event-staffing tech firm Pop Bookings opens seed round at $250K
Kansas City-based Pop Bookings is scoring local love from angel investors as it hopes to bolster its seed round to further develop its online event-staffing platform. A recent graduate of business accelerator SparkLabKC, Pop Bookings opened its round in April at $250,000, with lead investments from Kansas City-area angel investors. Pop Bookings CEO Erika Klotz said…
Schukman: 5 ways to fuse a social mission in your company
I’ve recently been exploring ways in which traditional companies have been retroactively becoming social entrepreneurs. Recall from my last piece that social entrepreneurship is a businessperson that creates a profit and purpose-driven organization in which the business and social missions run in tandem. Our social mission, therefore, becomes a key component of our marketing, branding,…
KCK tech firm RFP365 named ‘new small business’ of the year
The wins are stacking up for RFP365. Now weeks after scoring a contract with the City of Kansas City, Mo., the tech company was named the 2015 “New Small Business of the Year” Friday by the Kansas City Kansas Chamber of Commerce. A member of the Kansas City Startup Village, RFP365 created software that eases…