iRobot CEO Colin Angle today told Reuters that he hopes indoor mapping data collected by Roomba automatic vacuum cleaning machines can be sold to a company like Amazon, Apple, or Google in the near future.

iRobot's latest line of 900-series Roomba vacuums use simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) technology to map rooms while they clean, memorizing room layout and the location of furniture. Angle believes that mapping data collected by the Roomba could be used to make other in-home smart devices like lighting, thermostats, and security cameras smarter.

roomba980
"There's an entire ecosystem of things and services that the smart home can deliver once you have a rich map of the home that the user has allowed to be shared," said Angle.

Guy Hoffman, a robotics professor at Cornell University, told Reuters that the kind of spatial mapping technology iRobot can deliver has the potential to be a "major breakthrough" for smart homes.

Right now, smart home devices operate "like a tourist in New York who never leaves the subway," said Hoffman. "There is some information about the city, but the tourist is missing a lot of context for what's happening outside of the stations."

Angle believes that iRobot could reach a deal to sell its maps data to "one or more" of the "Big Three" (Amazon, Apple, and Google) in the next couple of years, but cheaper technology from competing companies and privacy concerns could potentially halt the company's plans. Angle says iRobot will not sell room data without customer permission, but he believes most people will give consent to access smart home functions.

Indoor home mapping has the potential to be valuable to companies like Apple, especially with Apple poised to release its augmented reality platform with iOS 11, but it's unclear if Apple would be interested in or need such data. Functionality built into Apple's own upcoming devices like the iPhone 8 could potentially allow for in-home maps that could bolster smart home devices if rumors of enhanced augmented reality features are true.

Tag: Roomba

Top Rated Comments

5105973 Avatar
101 months ago
I don't have a Roomba but if I did I wouldn't be letting it share a map of my house layout to anyone. I really do like some of my technology to stay stupid.
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TheAppleFairy Avatar
101 months ago
I got to be honest, I don’t think my Roomba keeps a map of my house or has mapped it very well. I once told it to dock right after it started and it took nearly 30 minutes to find the dock.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
krewger Avatar
101 months ago
One more brand I don't need in my life. Ethically I have an issue with people attempting to collect data from devices I own to resell to others when it's not for my direct benefit. I returned a smart tv once because once I got it home it said it would monitor what I watched to feed back for advertisers with no way to turn it off. There is no need to know the layout of my house, and a brand needlessly capturing data to regurgitate for profit is something that will stop me from buying the product.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Urban Joe Avatar
101 months ago
Jeeze Louise.... it's not like we couldn't see this coming. It's so annoying. I choose, as an act of my will not to buy iRobot products.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jermwhl Avatar
101 months ago
Yes they are a little noisy, but you can program it for different times every day. I program it for the same time while I am at work everyday. Then early morning on the weekends. If you have a pet. I don’t have pets, but if you do and it leaves a surprise on the floor I bet this could make a huge mess.
Well, after reading this, I wouldn't buy one if I had a dog. But I got a good chuckle out of it.
https://thenextweb.com/shareables/2016/08/12/a-roomba-tried-to-vacuum-dog-poop-and-its-even-worse-than-you-imagine/#.tnw_a2VYnETW

Here's a link to the direct posting/review:
https://www.facebook.com/jesse.newton.37/posts/776177951574
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
0029937 Avatar
101 months ago
I got to be honest, I don’t think my Roomba keeps a map of my house or has mapped it very well. I once told it to dock right after it started and it took nearly 30 minutes to find the dock.
I hated our Roomba. It was infuriating watching it randomly zig zag trying to clean a room. It would miss areas and over clean others. So glad we returned it (Costco) and got a Neato. Such a more effecient device. Would never buy a Roomba again. It wasn't even one of the cheaper models, can't remember the model name/number but for sure at a min. the middle tier.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

AirPods Pro 3 Mock Feature

AirPods Pro 3 Just Months Away – Here's What We Know

Friday April 18, 2025 5:16 am PDT by
Despite being more than two years old, Apple's AirPods Pro 2 still dominate the premium wireless‑earbud space, thanks to a potent mix of top‑tier audio, class‑leading noise cancellation, and Apple's habit of delivering major new features through software updates. With AirPods Pro 3 widely expected to arrive in 2025, prospective buyers now face a familiar dilemma: snap up the proven...
iphone 16 pro models 1

17 Reasons to Wait for the iPhone 17

Thursday April 17, 2025 4:12 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models simultaneously, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup. If you skipped the iPhone...
Beyond iPhone 13 Better Triad

Apple's 20th Anniversary iPhone May Finally Go All Screen

Tuesday April 15, 2025 6:31 am PDT by
Apple is preparing a "bold" new iPhone Pro model for the iPhone's 20th anniversary in 2027, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. As part of what's being described as a "major shake-up," Apple is said to be developing a design that makes more extensive use of glass – and this could point directly to the display itself. Here's the case for Apple releasing a truly all-screen iPhone with no...
maxresdefault

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 12 New Features

Sunday April 13, 2025 7:52 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of April 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and ...
CarPlay Hero

Apple Releases Wireless CarPlay Fix

Wednesday April 16, 2025 11:28 am PDT by
If you have been experiencing issues with wireless CarPlay in your vehicle lately, it was likely due to a software bug that has now been fixed. Apple released iOS 18.4.1 today, and the update's release notes say it "addresses a rare issue that prevents wireless CarPlay connection in certain vehicles." If wireless CarPlay was acting up for you, updating your iPhone to iOS 18.4.1 should...
top stories 2025 04 19

Top Stories: iPhone 17 Pro Rumors, CarPlay Bug Fix, and More

Saturday April 19, 2025 6:00 am PDT by
This week saw rumor updates on the iPhone 17 Pro and next-generation Vision Pro, while a minor iOS 18.4.1 update delivered not just security fixes but also a fix for some CarPlay issues. We also looked ahead at what else is in Apple's pipeline for the rest of 2025 and even the 20th-anniversary iPhone coming in 2027, so read on below for all the details on these stories and more! iPhone 17 ...
iOS 18

iOS 18.5 Includes Only a Few Changes So Far

Monday April 21, 2025 11:00 am PDT by
Apple seeded the third beta of iOS 18.5 to developers today, and so far the software update includes only a few minor changes. The changes are in the Mail and Settings apps. In the Mail app, you can now easily turn off contact photos directly within the app, by tapping on the circle with three dots in the top-right corner. In the Settings app, AppleCare+ coverage information is more...