(Original Title: Combating Terrorism, Invading Families: This Israeli Company Wants to Be the 'iPhone' of the Robotics Industry)
Text / Song Changle
Instead of focusing on the bustling capital market in China, it's better to visit Israel to witness its innovations.
Mark Twain never imagined that the land he described in "The Innocents Abroad" would today be known as the "second Silicon Valley," narrating fascinating stories about innovation and entrepreneurship.
This land is Israel.
A nation with less than 8 million people, caught in turmoil in the Middle East and frequently embroiled in conflicts, has surpassed both China and India in the number of foreign companies listed on the US Nasdaq Stock Exchange.
In a world clamoring for innovation, for Israelis, innovation is more like a natural way of survival. The constant threat of war fosters a spontaneous desire to engage in creative endeavors.
An Entrepreneurial Path for an Israeli Soldier
Yossi Wolf is just one of the millions of Israelis. However, the robot company he founded, Roboteam, has sold thousands of military robot products and has customers in 32 countries. Roboteam also secured a $100 million contract with the U.S. government, making it the first Israeli company to negotiate such a large business deal with the U.S. government.
The initial capital for Roboteam came from Yossi Wolf's savings over six years, amounting to $2,000. His vision back then was simple: to create a lifesaving robot capable of combating terrorism and having a global impact.
In fact, before starting his business, Yossi Wolf served as a captain and company commander in the Israeli Air Force Special Forces.
"When an old friend in the special police service told me: Yossi, your robot saved me during a mission last night, that feeling is simply fantastic. That's why I decided to enter this field," Yossi Wolf said.
Under Yossi Wolf's leadership for seven years, Roboteam became the leading manufacturer of robots in the global military robot market.
From Fighting Terrorism to 'Invading' Family Scenes
Just three years ago, when the defensive robot market was still thriving, Yossi Wolf was ready to embrace the next challenge and began shifting his research focus from saving robots to transforming life robots.
Based on the original company, Yossi Wolf founded Roboteam Home, and the company’s first personal robot targeting home use, temi, was born.
In short, the temi looks somewhat similar to the half-human robot in the American TV show "The Big Bang Theory." It can penetrate everyday scenes and act as an AI assistant interacting with people in real-time. For example, you can use it to play music, watch news and sports programs, or even chat with it. At the same time, smart home systems will also be integrated into temi's control system, allowing temi to control home appliances like TVs and air conditioners.
Like choosing to start a startup as a lifesaving robot many years ago, Yossi Wolf also developed a home robot due to a small incident in his life.
"It all stemmed from the afternoon I spent with my grandmother. That day, she was trembling and could barely hold her tea cup. Even a small smartphone was difficult for her. At that moment, I decided to dedicate my energy to bringing the world's first private robot to millions of homes," said Yossi Wolf.
A company whose main business is military robots now turns to researching and developing home automation robots that are linked to the past. Not only does the model change from B2B (business-to-business) to B2C (business-to-consumer), but the usage scenarios are completely different.
"The challenges are immense," Yossi Wolf admitted frankly. These challenges mainly stem from three aspects:
1. Changes in connection methods: Military robots connect machines to machines, but home robots connect to the Internet and the cloud.
2. Cost: A military robot may cost more than ten million US dollars, while home robots need to be affordable for ordinary people, similar to buying a smartphone, which requires considering reducing hardware costs to make it accessible to the masses.
3. Product design: Military robots are generally large, very sturdy, and robust, but temi requires a comfortable appearance so that users are willing to place it at home.
Yossi Wolf knows that military robots and home robots are two completely different industries. At the same time, the development of home robots faces a very complex and modular environment. Different families also have their differences.
Does the Robot Industry Need an 'iPhone'?
In Yossi Wolf's view, the temi home robot is a new type of connection. At home, temi is more like an "iPhone" and is a revolutionary smart device.
But unlike the iPhone, Yossi Wolf's robotic product should be centered on you, not the other way around. "Most of today's technologies are self-centered. We can't leave our mobile phones at home and become our services for mobile phones rather than mobile phones," he said.
"The robot is not a necessity, nor is it a family member. It can't replace people. It provides a way to upgrade the family experience," concluded Yossi Wolf.
(Photo Note: Yossi Wolf at work)
However, if you want to "invade" the family scene, problems will follow. After all, looking at the global market, there is no single family robot that can be considered successful.
Yossi Wolf believes that industry immaturity and excessive commitments are the two main reasons for this situation.
Nowadays, new companies on the market make a big mistake. They produce robots like toys and ignore the service functions of robots. "They produce robots for the production of robots. They are not user-centered, and many products cannot realize true human-machine interaction, so users will be disappointed."
In order to achieve a higher level of human-machine interaction, temi will choose to adopt the most mature technology in the market. If the market does not have good technology, Roboteam will develop and apply for patents on its own, such as core technologies like man-machine interaction, navigation, and black box. However, in terms of natural language recognition technology, temi does not have the technology to develop a Chinese version and has already reached a cooperation relationship with HKUST News, and the English version is in cooperation with Google.
Home Robots Will Definitely Replace Smart Speakers
Yossi Wolf also mentioned the current hot smart speakers, including Amazon, Google, and even giants like Alibaba. He thinks that some people will buy smart speakers because the speaker technology has matured, but robot-related technologies are not mature. Once users see mature robots that can walk, they will buy mobile robots.
He concluded that robots will eventually replace smart speakers, tablet computers, and other devices, because when you integrate the required functions into one device, you no longer need so many other small objects, and you can better use these features. The result is a mobile robot.
However, if robots are to be popularized, it will take at least 10-20 years to enter every household. Just like the original cars, telephones, and refrigerators, it takes time for each new technology to penetrate life. It starts with some people and then spreads to others.
In particular, it is worth mentioning that this Israeli company has an indissoluble bond with China. In order to develop temi, Roboteam Home received wind and capital financing of $50 million from the former chief technical officer of Alibaba.
According to Guo Xianyang, the managing director of Wind and Capital, the investment in Roboteam is based on Israel’s innovative genes and its core technology. Two years ago, it invested $15 million, followed by another $35 million.
"It's better to go to Israel to look at the capital market in China," Guo Xianyang said.
Now, in order to quickly enter the Chinese market, Roboteam Home has set up branch offices in Shenzhen, looking for Chinese distributors and agents to help Temi adapt to the localization operation. At the same time, a certain factory in Shenzhen is producing the first batch of products to be put on the market, totaling 10,000 Temi robots.
In conclusion, Roboteam Home is striving to make temi a groundbreaking product that not only meets the needs of the military but also transforms the way we interact with technology in our daily lives.
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