A product shot of the upcoming iKairos wearable, seen here worn as a necklace.
Lingverse
Back in 2017, before the current deluge of AI-powered products, there was Jibo, billed at the time as the “world’s first social home robot." It was essentially a stay-at-home AI-powered device measuring about 11 inches tall that could track movements, recognize human faces, and snap photos. The product, and the startup behind it, garnered praise from mainstream press and was named as one of the "best inventions of 2017” by TIME – that its future looked promising.
Jibo, shown off at a trade show in 2018. (Photo by Joan Cros/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
NurPhoto via Getty Images
But alas, Jibo ran into production obstacles, and the product’s high retail price ($899) made it a tough sell. The company shuttered in 2019.
One of Jibo’s board members and early investors, Jiawei Gu, apparently never gave up on the vision. This month, Gu’s new company, the Singapore-based Lingverse, announced it is launching iKairos, which the company calls a “spiritual successor” to Jibo.
iKairos in presumably its charging base. The top part can detach and be worn on the body.
Lingverse
Although the first product renders of iKairos look very similar to Jibo’s, there is one major difference: iKairos will not be a stationary device. While the image shows the product in its home-based form, the top part can detach to become a smaller wearable.
Because it is billed as a "dual-perspective wearable," users can shift iKairos’ gaze between themselves and their surroundings, allowing it to see either the world outside or the user themselves.
Gu believes iKairos will succeed where Jibo failed because a wearable has much more appeal than a stationary device, and AI is far more capable in 2026 than a decade ago.
iKairos will launch in Q3 of 2026, according to Lingverse, which is only a few months away. Time will tell if iKairos can live up to the meaning of its Greek namesake: the right opportunity.
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