Matic unveils a significant update to its robot vacuum, introducing voice and gesture controls powered by cloud AI, aiming for a more intuitive, hands-free cleaning experience amidst rising prices.
Matic has added voice and gesture controls to its robot vacuum in a major software update that pushes the company further towards a hands-free experience. The new system, called Matic Cues, lets owners say “Hey Matic” and issue natural language instructions, which the robot sends to Google Gemini in the cloud for processing. The company says that can cover straightforward tasks such as starting a whole-home clean or more specific instructions such as vacuuming one room and mopping another in a single run.
The update also adds a pointing-based gesture command for spot cleaning. In testing, the robot turned towards the user, lit its display and waited for further input after hearing the wake phrase. It generally handled the new controls well, although the follow-me function was less reliable once the user moved around corners or furniture. The robot sometimes lost track of the person and, in one case, appeared to focus on chair legs instead.
According to Gizmodo, the voice feature is the first Matic function that depends on an internet connection, which marks a shift for a device that otherwise works largely over Bluetooth. Matic co-founder Mehul Nariyawala said the company wants to move towards voice-first operation, but not at the expense of the app. He also said the firm hopes to shrink the AI model enough to run offline on the robot’s 4GB of RAM and Nvidia Jetson Orin chip, though with less capability than the cloud version.
The company is also looking beyond voice control. Nariyawala said Matic wants the robot to recognise furniture and household objects so it can work more intelligently around toys, sofas and appliances, and eventually carry out scouting passes to find and clean messes on its own. He said a follow-up model is not imminent, with the immediate priority being to make more of the current hardware. That comes as Matic also faces higher input costs: the robot, which had already risen from $1,095 to $1,245, is scheduled to increase again to $1,495 on September 9, 2026.
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