The next time someone tells you innovation is dead, point them to the darlings of CES 2025—robot vacuums that can pick up your socks, sprout legs, and check out that suspicious noise coming from the other room.
Armed and fastidious: Roborock and Dreame unveiled robovacs that come with a pincer so that they can pick up and move small objects—such as socks and washcloths—and drop them in a bin to clear a path for vacuuming. Roborock says its max capacity is 300 grams (a little more than half a pound), while Dreame says its arm can lift up to 500 grams (a little more than a pound), which means it can pick up something as heavy as a shoe.
