Roomba was a state-of-the-art machine for "indoor data collection" Mapping technology was the key

[24th Reuters]-Irobot, the maker of the robot vacuum cleaner "Rumba", is trying to sell the indoor information of users collected using the Roomba to IT (information technology) home appliance manufacturers. I'm aiming. Roomba, which is nothing more than an automatic vacuum cleaner, may become a state-of-the-art device for data collection.

In addition to room dimensions, information about the placement of furniture such as sofas, tables, and lighting fixtures is the next frontier for tech companies looking to advance their "smart homes" with IoT (Internet of Things) appliances.

IRobot CEO Colin Angle says smart home lighting fixtures, climate control devices and security cameras are already on the market, but they all depend on the physical environment of the room. powerless in terms of grasping But the mapping technology in Roomba's top-of-the-line model could change all that.

Big tech companies like Amazon.com and Apple, which have announced consumer electronics that use voice recognition technology, have backed iRobot's idea. The market for smart home devices was worth $9.8 billion last year and is expected to grow 60% this year, according to IHS Markit.

In March, iRobot began manufacturing the Roomba, which is compatible with Amazon's voice recognition technology, Alexa. In an interview with Reuters, Angle said the company could reach an agreement within the next few years with one or more of the "Big Three" -- Amazon, Apple and Alphabet -- to sell mapping information.

So far, Angle's management strategy has been well received by the market. iRobot shares hit $102 in mid-June, up from $35 a year ago. Its market capitalization swelled to nearly $2.5 billion, compared with $660 million in sales last year.

Furthermore, IT home appliance manufacturers may be able to sell products to customers based on indoor information.

Irobot's strategy also faces headwinds. First of all, it has been pointed out that the use of the collected data is problematic from the viewpoint of privacy protection. Angle says the company will not sell data without the consumer's permission.

The other is intensifying competition with low-priced manufacturers. In May, The New York Times said Roomba's top-end models were overpriced for the features they offered, giving way to cheaper robot vacuums from competing manufacturers.

For iRobot, a group of 1,000 patents worldwide protects it from these emerging rivals. In April, the company sued a rival for using a patent on a robot vacuum cleaner without permission.

(Reporter Jan Wolfe)