Urfael

Uru · Research stage

Meet Uru, a friendly helper we’re building for the home.

Uru is a soft, rounded robot we want to build to keep people company and lend a hand at home. Today it’s a research project, not a product, and it is not a medical device. This page is where we share what we’re making and why.

Follow along Why we’re building it
Hi! I’m Uru. Concept drawing. Uru’s look will change as we learn.

Where Uru is today

Stage
Research
Product to buy
None yet
Release date
None set
Medical device
No
What you can do
Follow along and tell us what would help

Why Uru

Care is some of the most important work there is, and much of it happens at home, in small moments: a reminder, a glass of water, a chat on a quiet afternoon. The people doing that work are often stretched thin. The people receiving it can spend long hours on their own.

We don’t think a robot should replace any of those people. We think a kind, unhurried helper could take a little weight off their shoulders, and make the quiet hours a little less quiet.

What we want Uru to be

These are goals, not features. They’ll change as we learn.

Illustration only, not a design. Uru isn’t built yet, and how it’s made will change as we learn.

  • Good company.

    Something to say good morning to. Uru should listen, chat and remember the things you’ve chosen to tell it.

  • A gentle nudge.

    Friendly reminders for the routines you set yourself: a walk, a phone call, a glass of water.

  • A bridge to your people.

    An easy way to reach family, friends or a carer when you’d like to.

  • A soft presence.

    Rounded, light and quiet. Made to be easy to be around, not to look like a machine.

  • Your helper, not ours.

    Uru should work for the people it lives with, just like our assistant does.

The promises we’re designing around

  • Gentle by design.

    Soft materials, slow movements, a calm voice. Uru should never startle, rush or pressure anyone.

  • Private by default.

    What happens at home should stay as private as possible. We’re designing Uru to keep as much as it can on the device, to ask before it shares anything, and to make its settings easy to read.

  • Honest about limits.

    Uru will say when it doesn’t know or can’t help. It won’t pretend to be a doctor, a nurse or a person.

  • A human in the loop.

    Important decisions stay with people. Uru is meant to support the people who give care, never to stand in for them.

What Uru won’t do

  • It won’t diagnose, treat or give medical advice.
  • It won’t replace doctors, nurses, carers or family.
  • It won’t make decisions about anyone’s health or care.
  • It won’t listen in secret. When Uru is listening, you’ll be able to see it.
  • It won’t pretend to be a person.
  • It won’t share what it sees or hears without permission.

Uru is not an emergency service. In an emergency, call 112 in Europe, or your local emergency number.

Where we are

Uru is at the research stage. There’s no product to buy, no release date and no specification yet. Right now we’re working through the questions that come first:

  • What would make a helper like this welcome at home, and what would make it unwelcome?
  • How should it look, move and sound so that it feels calm and kind?
  • How can it be useful while keeping a home’s private life private?
  • Where are the lines it must never cross?

When there’s real progress to show, it will appear here first. Until then, we’d rather show you our questions than make you promises.

Same rune, same rules

Uru starts from the same principles as Urfael Assistant, our open-source AI that runs on your own machine. Building the assistant taught us to keep things local where we can, to make the safe setting the default, and to say plainly what isn’t tested. Uru inherits those rules.

Meet the assistant

Follow along

We’d love some company on the way. If you give care, receive care or build robots, tell us what would help and what would worry you. Both are useful.

Write to us Follow on GitHub

Email goes to MYG Media, the small company behind Urfael. Please don’t include health or medical details in your message. GitHub is where our assistant is built in the open.

Questions about Uru

Can I buy Uru?

Not yet. Uru is a research project, and there’s nothing to buy or pre-order.

When will it be ready?

We don’t know yet, and we won’t guess. We’ll share real progress here when there is some.

Is Uru a medical device?

No. Uru is not a medical device. It isn’t designed to diagnose, treat, monitor or prevent any disease or condition.

Is this what Uru will look like?

The drawings here are concept art. Uru’s look will change as we design and test it.

Why the name?

Uru comes from ᚢ Uruz, the rune in our mark, often read as strength, health and vitality. It’s a working name for now.