Aire Is a Flying Robot Assistant for Your Home

There are two kinds of technology that have grown in popularity by leaps and bounds over the past few years: drones and Internet of Things (IoT) systems. Drones have become cheap and easy to fly, and are great for aerial photography and videography. IoT systems let you monitor and control your home from afar. But, those two things rarely have anything to do with each other.

Aire, from Aevena, is looking to finally change that by combining the two. Currently in the Kickstarter crowd funding stage, Aire is a flying robot assistant for your home. Imagine an Amazon Echo mounted on top of a drone, and you have the basic idea. It gives you the benefits of a home IoT system — monitoring of the house, personal assistance, and so one— but in a device that, well, flies.

The benefits may not be immediately obvious, but they are there. If you’re away from home, you can fly the Aire around your place to check on everything. It can follow you from room to room, and act as an Amazon Echo that’s always with you. If you’ve ever wished your smart personal assistant weren’t stuck in one place, Aire makes a lot of sense.

The device itself houses the propulsion system within an attractive case, protecting your kids and pets from painful cuts that are the hallmark of standard drones. And, it contains a variety of cameras and sensors that let it fly autonomously or under your control. If this sounds like the device for you, the Kickstarter campaign will be going until October 20th, and the Beta model is priced at $699 and is expected to ship in September 2018.