Pet cameras have been around for years, but FrontierX just upped the game. The startup unveiled Vex at CES this week, a small spherical robot that doesn't just watch your pet from a fixed angle - it actually follows your cat or dog around the house, films from their perspective, and uses AI to stitch the footage into edited video highlights. The move signals a broader shift toward autonomous, AI-powered consumer robots that do more than just observe.
For years, the pet tech market has been stuck on one idea: stationary cameras that let you check in on your furry friend while you're at work. Now FrontierX is trying to flip the script entirely with Vex, a small robot companion that does the filming for you. Unveiled at CES this week, Vex is a hand-sized sphere with stubby limbs and cute accessories in various colors. But the real trick is what happens once you let it loose in your home.
Vex can autonomously follow your cat or dog around the house, tracking them using visual recognition technology. It films as it goes, capturing footage from a low angle that's closer to your pet's actual perspective than traditional ceiling-mounted cameras ever could. Then comes the AI magic: the robot uses artificial intelligence to stitch together daily footage into what FrontierX calls "moving narratives and shareable stories." The idea is that instead of you scrolling through hours of video, you get digestible highlights of your pet's day.
The concept isn't entirely new, of course. Pet cameras like Furbo and others have let owners spy on their pets remotely for years, and various robotics companies have explored autonomous pet toys. But combining autonomous following with AI-powered video synthesis? That's a genuinely different approach to the problem. The real test will be whether the AI editing actually produces something worth watching. FrontierX hasn't released any example footage yet, which is conspicuous by its absence.
FrontierX isn't stopping at Vex. The company also revealed Aura, a larger spherical robot with a circular screen embedded in its face. Where Vex is designed for pets, Aura is positioned as a human companion. It can follow you around your home, read your facial expressions and body language to gauge your mood, and carry on conversations thanks to large language model integration. The bot represents the growing trend of consumer robotics that aim to be interactive rather than purely functional.
Here's the thing though: FrontierX is barely a startup yet. The company doesn't even have a proper website online - just a barebones Instagram page. Despite that, they're projecting confidence about timelines. FrontierX says both Vex and Aura will be ready for preorders within the next six months. They're not discussing pricing yet, which makes sense given they're still in development. This is the classic CES playbook: announce big, show ambition, leave details for later.
