You can now just point at a mess and this robot vacuum will suck it up
Matic has introduced Matic Cues, adding gesture-controlled spot cleaning and a built-in voice assistant to its robot vacuum. Users can wake the device, point at a mess and ask it to clean that area, offering a more direct alternative to drawing cleaning zones in an app; the feature is notable because the company says no other robot vacuum currently offers this form of gesture control.
The update launched on 13 August and is available to all existing Matic robots because it uses their five-camera vision system and processes gestures on the device. In testing, smaller targets required crouching for greater precision, while gestures from standing height prompted a broader clean; voice commands use Gemini API-powered natural-language understanding, although commands after “Hey, Matic” are sent anonymously to the cloud. The vacuum’s price is due to rise from $1,245 to $1,495 on 9 September.
- Matic vacuums can now clean where users point.
- Gesture controls work on existing five-camera Matic robots.
- The robot’s price will rise by $250 in September.
Both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Supporters would argue that voice and gesture controls make robot vacuums materially more useful in everyday life: a person can direct an immediate clean-up without finding a phone or configuring a routine. They may see this as a practical accessibility improvement for people with limited mobility, busy households, or anyone who wants technology to remove small domestic frictions. The value is convenience through more natural, direct control.
The case against
Sceptics would argue that adding microphones, cameras or advanced sensing to a household appliance can create unnecessary privacy, security and reliability concerns for a modest convenience gain. Gesture and voice commands may also be misheard or misinterpreted, while a simple button or app can be clearer and less likely to trigger unwanted actions. The value is keeping domestic technology predictable, minimally intrusive and proportionate to the task.