Vespa Maker Piaggio Introduces Consumer Robot Gita

Piaggio Fast Forward (PFF), a unit of the Italian manufacturer behind the Vespa scooter, has spent the last four years working on Gita, a small spherical bot that follows its owner and lugs up to 40 pounds of their stuff. It goes on sale next month for $3,250.

Gita doesn't wheel itself around autonomously. Instead, the robot uses a suite of front-facing cameras and depth sensors to accompany its homo sapien leader indoors or outdoors. It works best on hard surfaces and can tackle up to a 16% slope.

"In a very unlikely way, we landed on thinking about machines that help people do more walking," Greg Lynn, CEO of PFF, told me. Lynn considers Gita a micromobility product. While delivery bots and scooters have taken flak for their rude sidewalk manners, Lynn said Gita has "pedestrian etiquette."

Zoom out: Gita isn't meant for "Silicon Valley tech bros" and "isn't a toy for early adopters," Lynn said. But consumer robots are tough to sell...and Gita's not cheap. The bot's chances are probably riding on wealthy families or businesses.