I thought I liked anthropomorphized robots, like Zenbo. But then I came across Vyo, a faceless bot that's basically a robotic arm with a black cylindrical appendage vaguely resembling an eye, and I knew I liked it better than any bot I'd ever seen. Vyo was created with smart homes in mind. One of its creators, Guy Hoffman, of Cornell University and IDC Herzliya in Israel, told IEEE Spectrum that Vyo was designed to be more like a butler than a personal assistant. It's around when it's needed and isn't imposing with a bright light or voice.

"I found it eerie to have to speak to your walls or into space, and didn't want to add another bright glass square for you to touch at home," he said. "A social robot offers a very different kind of relationship with your home and domestic technology."

The most interesting part of Vyo is the way in which it's controlled. Users put little objects that remind me of letter magnets on Vyo's turntable control panel. They each represent a specific connected device, which Vyo can control. The robot swivels its head to indicate when it's operating a specific device or detects a problem. The way it "breathes" and moves correlates with how serious an issue it's experiencing. You can see the bot in action below.

Vyo is the silent tech I wanted in my life. Ban screens. Goodbye.