iRobot Founder Colin Angle Launches Familiar Machines & Magic for Consumer Physical AI

Colin Angle, co-founder and former CEO of iRobot, has unveiled his new venture Familiar Machines & Magic, announced in a press release. The company aims to build emotionally intelligent robots called Familiars that are designed for trust, interaction, and long-term connection.

Introduced at The Wall Street Journal's Future of Everything conference, Familiar Machines & Magic describes its Familiars as physically embodied AI systems that can perceive, adapt, and interact with people in ways that feel natural. The first prototype is a quadruped robot built for social interaction, featuring 23 degrees of freedom, a touch-sensitive coat, a vision system, and an audio array for expressive communication.

The system runs on a custom small multimodal model that integrates vision, audio, language, and memory to enable socially responsive behavior in real time. Unlike humanoid robots built for industrial use, Familiars are designed to be approachable and expressive for everyday environments.

The company emphasized that this unveiling marks its emergence from stealth rather than a commercial product launch. Future updates will outline specific applications and deployment plans. Familiar Machines & Magic uses an edge AI architecture to minimize latency and enhance privacy, focusing on scalable systems that evolve through real-world use.