Intel’s new Segway transforms into a butler that streams video

The sci-fi device, which is a self-balancing personal transporter with a built-in interactive robot, was uneviled at Intel’s keynote speech at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas.

The Ninebot Segway can be ridden like a handleless Segway, holding it steady between your legs, travelling up to 30km at speeds of up to 18kph. The most innovative companies around the world apply for their own stand where its attendees can get a grip of what the near or distant future plans of that company are.

In the past, the Segway has often been, well, a little laughed at, if not ridiculed – the personal transportation devices are most often seen with a horde of slightly overweight tourists leaving the “walking” out of a walking tour.

The self-balancing hoverboard, unveiled at the CES 2016 keynote, features Intel’s RealSense ZR300 camera, which helps the Ninebot avoid crashing into surrounding objects.

The robot is powered by an Intel Atom processor and runs on Android with an open SDK.

The robot transforms into a helper when its not in use.

The robot is capable of navigating around the home without bumping into anything, stream live video and follow the user on command. It can also talk back to you when you provide it with voice commands. The robot’s video feed also goes directly to your smartphone where you receive a notification so you can see exactly who’s coming. A pair of arms were added to the robot during the demonstration on stage, which the device recognized immediately.

Segway was purchased a year ago in April by Ninebot, a Chinese startup backed by Xiaomi.

A developer kit is expected to arrive sometime in the second half of 2016. While some companies still manage to make a few interesting announcements, the current state of the CES has its spectators scratching their heads rather than clapping in excitement.

Krzanich said that the robot will eventually become a commercially available product.