Of all the robots designs introduced over the past few years — many of which seemed to border on insanity — laundry-folding robots are among the sensible.
Folding laundry is one of the most menial and time-consuming household chores, and a robot that could perform this process seems like a good idea. But much like the struggling social robot market, laundry robot manufacturers are struggling to find consumer interest.
Japan-based Seven Dreamers, maker of the Laundroid, filed for bankruptcy after it was unable to pay back debt owed.
The first generation of the Laundroid robot was designed to not just fold clothes, but to wash, dry and iron them as well. However, this carried too great a price tag (about $16,000), and the company was forced to create a scaled-down version that would only sort and fold laundry, bringing the price down to about $2,000. It also offered a companion app that would keep users apprised of the folding status. Yet, even $2,000 has proven too steep a price to pay for something that a consumer could simply do themselves.
In a statement on the company’s website, Seven Dreamers said it now plans to instead focus on healthcare after bankruptcy proceedings have started, forgoing any future robotic plans.
For those still holding out hope of buying a robot that can fold their unmentionables and other items, Foldimate, which was unveiled at the most recent CES tradeshow, is still in development and promises to fold laundry in about five minutes.
