Lawrence-based open-source, open-hardware artificial intelligence platform Mycroft raised $127,520 in a 30-day “proof of interest” Kickstarter campaign.
Reaching 128 percent of its $99,000 goal makes Mycroft “the most successful Kickstarter campaign ever to come out of Kansas,” according to Chief Technology Officer Ryan Sipes.
Mycroft aims to be an affordable alternative to voice-based A.I. systems like Amazon Echo, and its product demo video shows it as a way to control a range of household IoT devices. Connected to a home network, it can play music directly or connect to output devices to stream media through natural-language commands.
The platform will come with the ability to integrate with smart devices such as the SmartThings hub, WeMo devices or Phillips Hue lights and online services such as IFTTT, with the promise that its open-source nature will mean developers can add their own features.
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Mycroft is now selling pre-order units and other “perks” for backers on its Indiegogo site. The company is planning on a July 2016 public release of its Raspberry-Pi-based units for a cost of $129 each.
See SPN’s previous story on Mycroft.
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Alex Garrison works in educational technology, tech support and WordPress development. Before finding her passion in programming, she was a reporter and web editor in Northeast Kansas. She lives in Omaha but is a Larryville townie at heart.
