Google tested 157 shades of gray to develop the Mini, a $49 home assistant that’s meant to fade into the background of everyday life.
Yesterday, Google announced a new addition to its home-assistant product line: the $49 Google Home Mini. The device–which lets you access information and services from your computer or phone using just your voice–looks like a smooth, fabric-wrapped river rock. It was designed to make the advanced AI-powered technology inside feel like a natural addition to any room of your home, not some spooky HAL 9000 bot lurking around. To achieve this, Google designed a custom textile and even its own yarn.