If you haven’t heard… we launched a Kickstarter at the end of January. It released our new voice assistant device, the Mark II.
A completely open software and hardware, privacy-focused assistant loaded with features and an increasingly intelligent software stack behind it.
The Kickstarter was 100% funded in 6.5 hours. We’ve blown past our goal of 50,000 and are currently at 280k, climbing each and every day. We can’t thank our community enough for this–it’s loyal supporters like you that brought Mycroft to life two years ago and continue to do so now.
With each milestone met we’re releasing stretch goals. We went to our community, asking what they’d like to see Mark II include. Since then, we’ve released:
- Near Black Color Option
- Ice Blue Color Option
- Spotify and Sonos Media Skills
Then we added a new reward at 200k.
- Mark II with a Camera
Along the way…
In addition to rewards, we’ve had lots of press coverage on the Mark II and some awesome community contributions, like this video. It shows how Mycroft can be integrated with facial recognition technology (perks of being open source.) Thanks to our community member, Christopher Rogers, for this!
Chronologically, the campaign went a little liked this:
$200k we released the color NEAR BLACK.
But we know backers wanted more color options. So we put out a survey to see what the community liked. The results for that became the next stretch goal.
At $210k we released ICE BLUE. The clear winner with our community.
Feedback from the community also told us something else.. That Mark II with a Camera was a highly requested reward. We listened and released a new reward.
At $179 you can get Mark II with a camera.
Putting a camera in a voice assistant comes with a lot of benefits. It gives you eyes where you need them–whether that’s keeping an eye on your pups while you’re out, or seeing a sleeping baby in another room. The best part is we don’t keep any data, so there’s absolutely no privacy invasion.
The internal camera will have 1080p video with DSI interface, and a mechanical shutter to physically block the lens.
We didn’t forget the details: Kickstarter doesn’t allow add-on rewards, so if you were a Dev Kit, Early Bird, or 3pack backer, rest assured we’re working on the option to get you a camera. Most likely it will be a survey sent post campaign to let you add it to your cart.
At $250k the stretch goal of Spotify and Sonos integration was unlocked. This stretch goal ensures that the media skills will be available upon shipment.
Mark II is and continues to be built by the feedback of the community.
We’re correcting the things we overlooked the first time and adding in capabilities that you’re asking for. The feedback has been GREAT. In fact, we wanted to highlight a few especially great responses we heard from the survey.
When we asked, “What would you like to see from Mark II?”
- “Just add legs and hands and paint it yellow/blue and you got minion. Modulate voice to sound like one should not be that hard too.”
- “Giant fighting robot that levitates”
We wish! While not all ideas are technically or financially feasible, we still want to hear what you have to say!
Haven’t seen the Kickstarter yet? Hurry and head over there! These are the last 7 days where you can find Mark II at this price.
Alyx works as a business analyst for Mycroft, working with data to shape metrics and the broader marketing strategy. She also writes these blog posts.