Meet Mori, a Cute Robot Mushroom That Doesn’t Really Say (or Do) Anything
OKA, a startup founded by former tech executives, has introduced Mori, a small robot lamp designed to foster human-nature connections. The device reacts to user movement and plays nature sounds but intentionally lacks smart assistant features like voice control.
Why it matters
Mori represents a niche trend in consumer electronics that prioritizes 'digital wellbeing' and non-utilitarian interaction over traditional smart home functionality.
It does a little jiggle because it sees you're back. Its name is Mori.
As you move around the space—maybe it's time to start cooking dinner—the little robot's face follows you, observing your movements and making soft sounds that are a cross between a bird and R2-D2. The day's stress catches up, and you need a moment to relax, so you head over to Mori, touch its head, and its eyes and camera-nose dip back inside its body. It goes back to being a lamp, except now it plays nature soundscapes so you can feel at ease.
That's the pitch from OKA, or One Kind Artifact, a new startup based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Shenzhen, China, focusing on experimental technology. CEO Hua Wang tells WIRED he wants his company to create five experimental “Artifacts” over the course of OKA's lifetime. Mori is the first.
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