Teenage Engineering’s R robot speaker could be its craziest release yet

Teenage Engineering’s product development strategy has always been a little unconventional, and its latest wheeze is a case in point. You could decribe R as a desktop speaker, but there’s rather more to it than that.

TE says that R is “the world’s first emotional 6-axis life form,” but that probably doesn’t clear things up for you. You might prefer to think of it as a ‘dancing robot speaker’ - it’s loaded with sensors and microphones, and uses artificial intelligence technology to react to a conversation.

We’re also told that R is capable of expressing feelings and emotions - which probably can’t be said of your current speakers - and there’s the intriguing promise of compatibility with Teenage Engineering’s forthcoming OP-Z instrument. There’s no word on a price or release date, but we’re guessing that R won’t come cheap.

Find out more on the Teenage Engineering website.

Ben Rogerson

I’m the Deputy Editor of MusicRadar, having worked on the site since its launch in 2007. I previously spent eight years working on our sister magazine, Computer Music. I’ve been playing the piano, gigging in bands and failing to finish tracks at home for more than 30 years, 24 of which I’ve also spent writing about music and the ever-changing technology used to make it. 

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