You can now just point at a mess and this robot vacuum will suck it up

现在，你只需指着脏乱的地方，这款扫地机器人就会自动清理

Matic, my current favorite robot vacuum, just got a big upgrade. The company has launched Matic Cues, which brings voice and gesture control to the robot. Now, you can talk directly to your vacuum to tell it what you want it to do, or just point at a mess to have it spot-clean. Matic 是我目前最喜欢的扫地机器人，它刚刚迎来了一次重大升级。该公司推出了 Matic Cues 功能，为机器人带来了语音和手势控制。现在，你可以直接与扫地机器人对话，告诉它你想做什么，或者只需指着脏乱的地方，它就会进行定点清洁。

The feature launches today, August 13 at 2 pm ET, and will show as an option in the Matic app under Settings > Matic Cues. The update arrives just ahead of a planned price hike on September 9, which will see the WALL-E-style robot’s price go from $1,245 to $1,495. 该功能于美国东部时间 8 月 13 日下午 2 点正式上线，用户可在 Matic App 的“设置 > Matic Cues”中找到该选项。此次更新恰逢 9 月 9 日价格上涨前夕，届时这款外形酷似“瓦力”（WALL-E）的机器人价格将从 1,245 美元涨至 1,495 美元。

I’ve been playing with Matic Cues for a day or so, and so far it’s working well. Gesture control is the standout feature here, as it’s something no other robot vacuum offers — the company’s founders are both computer vision engineers who worked at Google Nest cameras, and have been developing the feature since 2017. 我已经试用了 Matic Cues 一天左右，目前运行良好。手势控制是这里最突出的功能，因为这是其他扫地机器人所不具备的——该公司的两位创始人都是曾在 Google Nest 摄像头部门工作过的计算机视觉工程师，他们自 2017 年以来一直在开发这项功能。

It works by waking up the robot with the wake word “Hey, Matic,” then waiting for it to “see” me (by turning toward my voice). I then point to the mess, say “clean here,” and off it goes. I did notice that if I wanted it to target a smaller area, I needed to crouch down to point at it. If I gestured from standing height, it cleaned a wider area, taking longer. It can also follow me, so saying “Hey Matic, follow me,” walking to and pointing at the mess, started a clean-up. 它的工作原理是先通过唤醒词“Hey, Matic”唤醒机器人，然后等待它“看到”我（通过转向我的声音方向）。接着，我指着脏乱的地方说“clean here”（清理这里），它就会开始工作。我注意到，如果我想让它针对较小的区域进行清理，我需要蹲下来指着那个位置。如果我站着做手势，它会清理更广的区域，耗时也更长。它还可以跟随我，所以说“Hey Matic, follow me”（嘿 Matic，跟着我），然后走到脏乱处并指着它，也能启动清理工作。

Because it uses the robot’s existing vision hardware — which includes five cameras — gesture control works entirely on-device and is coming to all existing Matic robots. 由于它利用了机器人现有的视觉硬件（包括五个摄像头），手势控制完全在设备端运行，并且将推送给所有现有的 Matic 机器人。

While most robot vacuums let you spot-clean by drawing a zone in the app, I’ve found that method to be imprecise and not useful for quick cleanups. Some can also respond to a “clean here” voice command, but that’s based on the general area where you’re standing; Matic’s gesture-based implementation feels more focused. 虽然大多数扫地机器人允许通过在 App 中绘制区域来进行定点清洁，但我发现这种方法不够精确，对于快速清理来说并不实用。有些机器人也能响应“clean here”的语音指令，但这通常基于你所站的大致区域；而 Matic 基于手势的实现方式感觉更加精准。

The new built-in voice assistant also worked smoothly in initial testing. Voice control isn’t new on robot vacuums — nearly all work with Alexa and Google and some with Apple’s Siri, and many now have their own onboard voice assistants — including Roborock, Ecovacs, and Narwal. I’ve had mixed success with these long-term. Most require remembering exact commands; while “vacuum the kitchen” is easy to remember, other phrases are less intuitive and less flexible than Matic’s offering. 新的内置语音助手在初步测试中也运行顺畅。语音控制在扫地机器人上并不新鲜——几乎所有产品都支持 Alexa 和 Google，部分支持 Apple 的 Siri，许多品牌现在也有自己的内置语音助手，包括石头（Roborock）、科沃斯（Ecovacs）和云鲸（Narwal）。我在长期使用这些功能时体验参差不齐。大多数产品需要记住精确的指令；虽然“vacuum the kitchen”（打扫厨房）很容易记住，但其他短语往往不如 Matic 的方案直观和灵活。

Matic uses the Gemini API to understand natural language, including commands like “vacuum the inside of the carpet” (thus avoiding the tassels), “clean just the hard floors,” and “clean the toekicks in the kitchen” — something I always want done right after cooking dinner. Matic 使用 Gemini API 来理解自然语言，包括诸如“vacuum the inside of the carpet”（只吸地毯内部，从而避开流苏）、“clean just the hard floors”（只清理硬地板）以及“clean the toekicks in the kitchen”（清理厨房踢脚线）等指令——这正是我每次做完晚饭后都想做的事情。

The robot could hear me from a room away and responded promptly — although it took a beat to go off and execute the command. It also doesn’t talk back; instead, its small display indicates it heard you and tells you what it’s doing. 机器人甚至能隔着一个房间听到我的声音并迅速做出响应——尽管它需要一点时间来启动并执行指令。它也不会进行语音回复；相反，它的小屏幕会显示它已听到指令，并告知你它正在做什么。

I was impressed how many commands it understood, including chained commands, like “clean the kitchen, vacuum the living room, and then mop the bathroom.” It also slunk back to its dock when I said, “Hey Matic, go away.” Handy if it’s underfoot when I’m cooking. 它能理解如此多的指令令我印象深刻，包括连贯指令，例如“clean the kitchen, vacuum the living room, and then mop the bathroom”（清理厨房，吸尘客厅，然后拖地浴室）。当我说“Hey Matic, go away”（嘿 Matic，走开）时，它也会悄悄回到充电座。这在我做饭时它挡路的情况下非常方便。

One of Matic’s biggest selling points is that it doesn’t require the cloud and can be used without an internet connection. However, voice control does need both of those. While the company says the “Hey Matic” wake word is processed on-device, meaning no ambient chatter is sent to the cloud, any command after is sent to the Gemini API. A short chime tells you when anything is leaving the device. Matic 的一大卖点是它不需要云端，可以在没有网络连接的情况下使用。然而，语音控制确实需要这两者。虽然该公司表示“Hey Matic”唤醒词是在设备端处理的，这意味着不会有环境对话被发送到云端，但之后的任何指令都会发送到 Gemini API。当有数据离开设备时，会发出短促的提示音。

Mehul Nariyawala, cofounder and president of Matic, says the commands it sends are anonymized, adding that Matic chose cloud processing to support more than 75 languages and a wider variety of commands. The company plans to take the top 20 or 30 most-used commands and bring those locally in the future. Matic Cues is opt in, and you can turn it and the microphones off in settings. Matic 的联合创始人兼总裁 Mehul Nariyawala 表示，发送的指令是匿名的，并补充说 Matic 选择云处理是为了支持超过 75 种语言和更广泛的指令。该公司计划在未来将最常用的 20 到 30 条指令实现本地化处理。Matic Cues 是可选功能，你可以在设置中将其及麦克风关闭。

The trade-off between more convenience and more privacy is a constant tussle in the smart home. Roborock’s “Hey Rocky” voice assistant is entirely on device, but I rarely use it because it’s just not intuitive. So far I’ve found myself using “Hey Matic” much more frequently, as it’s just easier to talk to. The gesture control also solves a pain point I’ve long struggled with — getting a robot to clean the exact spot I want. For Matic users, this is a worthwhile update, and for those considering pulling the trigger, it’s a new convenience that makes a very good robot vacuum even better. 在智能家居领域，便利性与隐私之间的权衡一直是一个持续的博弈。Roborock 的“Hey Rocky”语音助手完全在设备端运行，但我很少使用它，因为它不够直观。到目前为止，我发现自己使用“Hey Matic”的频率要高得多，因为它交流起来更容易。手势控制也解决了我长期以来的痛点——让机器人清理我想要的特定位置。对于 Matic 用户来说，这是一次值得的更新；而对于那些正在考虑购买的人来说，这是一项新的便利功能，让这款本就出色的扫地机器人变得更好了。