Laundroid Returns at CES 2018

Remember the Laundroid, the robot promising to make the folding of laundry a thing of the past seen back at CES 2016? Seven Dreamers returns to this year's CES with an updated prototype and a launch date.

LaundroidThe Laundroid continues to bear an ominous resemblance to HAL 9000, the malevolent AI from 2001: A Space Odyssey, even if Tokyo-based Seven Dreamers insists its purpose remains to simply fold the laundry. One will be able to dump clean and dry clothes in the cabinet-style machine, and before too long (or around 4 hours, depending on the size of the load) it will all be folded automatically.

The latest prototype has the capacity of 30-40 pieces of clothing (depending on size), and takes around 5 minutes to fold one item. More complex clothing, such as dress shirts, may require more time. Operation promises to be quiet at around 35db, and it even has two sorting modes-- either by category (towels, shirts, etc) or person/family member, since the Laundroid can register a piece of clothing with a particular user.

Internet connectivity via wifi is required, since the Laundroid connects to the cloud to access the surprisingly complex calculations required to fold clothes. Through wifi users can also check what the robot is doing and perform other smart home-style functions.

Seven Dreamers says the Laundroid will be available in global markets sometime in 2018. The asking price for such robotic convenience? A cool $16000.

Go Laundroid