hitTwo blind graders agree (D7, rule D16). The auditor agent confirmed it (D11).
Grader A: hit
Household robots emerged but stayed niche, which matches the claim. iRobot's Roomba launched in 2002 and sold a million units by 2004; robot vacuums were a real but minority product in 2009.
Test: Existence plus non-mainstream: Roomba on sale from 2002, 1 million units by 2004; household penetration well below 20% in 2009.
iRobot (Wikipedia) (2026-09-28): Roomba unveiled September 2002, one million units sold by 2004; over 30 million home robots by 2020.
Grader B: hit
iRobot launched the Roomba in September 2002 and sold 1 million units by 2004. Home robots (vacuum, pool and gutter robots) were on the market by 2009 but were owned by a small share of households. That matches 'emerged, but not yet fully accepted'.
Test: Test: household robots on the market but below mainstream (20% of households). Roomba: 1 million units by 2004; about 30 million iRobot home robots by 2020. 2009 US household penetration was well below 20%.
iRobot (Wikipedia) (accessed 2026-09): Roomba unveiled September 2002; 1 million sold by 2004; more than 30 million home robots by 2020.
Roomba (Wikipedia) (accessed 2026-09): The first Roomba went on sale in September 2002.
All captured fields
rank
94
kind
decade_prediction
section
Business & Economics
subject
Household robots not yet ubiquitous
target year
2009
timing
in
position
Chapter 9, "2009"; item Business & Economics 17 in Kurzweil 2010, p. 81
confidence
high
note
Wording as reproduced by the author in "How My Predictions Are Faring" (2010); book page not given there. Subject label is the essay's own item heading.