iKairos

About iKairos

Lingverse, a Singapore-based AI hardware company, is entering the personal AI device market with its product, iKairos. The company has secured US$29 million in a Pre-A funding round to support the development and commercialization of this new device. The project is positioned as the spiritual successor to the social robot Jibo, which ceased operations in 2019. The founder and CEO of Lingverse is Jiawei Gu, who was previously an early investor and board member for Jibo. His career has been focused on human-computer interaction, with prior roles at Microsoft Research and Baidu's Institute of Deep Learning. Gu also developed Luka, a successful owl-shaped reading companion for children, demonstrating experience in bringing physical AI products to market. iKairos is a modular AI device designed to function as both a wearable pendant and a stationary home assistant when placed in its dock. Its primary distinction is its 'dual-perspective' capability, utilizing cameras to observe both the user's expressions and behaviors and the external environment. This approach allows the AI to build a more detailed contextual understanding over time, enabling it to move beyond reactive commands and proactively anticipate user needs, offering reminders or suggestions. For instance, the system could learn a user's habits and provide context-aware advice based on their schedule and location. The device is being developed with privacy controls as a key feature, including a physical shutter to cover the camera lens, ensuring the user has control over when it can record. Lingverse has stated that personal data will be processed locally or encrypted during transmission and will not be used for training the underlying AI models. The company plans to open pre-orders for iKairos in the third quarter of 2026.