How it works
Walter turns a spare computer and a screen into a companion that lives on your wall. Here's the whole journey, honestly.
1. What you need
- A 64-bit Intel or AMD computer you don't need for anything else. Recommended: 4 or more CPU cores and 8 GB of memory (a refurbished mini PC works well). Two-core machines run, but the voice can stutter when it's busy.
- A screen: the laptop's own, or any monitor or TV over HDMI.
- A microphone and speaker: a USB speakerphone works best across a room.
- An internet connection: Ethernet makes install hands-off; Wi-Fi needs a keyboard for a minute during install.
- A Claude plan or an Anthropic API key, in your own name. Light use fits a Claude Pro plan; a busy household may want a bigger plan or an API key with a budget.
- Optional: a webcam (for knowing when someone walks in), a Google account, an OpenAI key for cloud voices.
Not supported yet: Raspberry Pi and other ARM boards, Macs, Windows. The installer replaces everything on the machine.
2. Install
Write the installer to a USB stick, boot from it, and walk away. It installs a minimal Linux system and Walter, and reboots straight into its face. Beta invites come with a private download link.
3. Set up from your phone
A code appears on the screen. Scan it, give your Walter a name for you, set your town for the weather, and sign in to Claude. Sign-in happens through Anthropic's own sign-in on the box, or by adding your own API key; Walter never sees or stores your Claude password or login codes.
4. Talk
Say its name and ask. Behind the scenes:
- The wake word and your speech are recognised on the device.
- The words (not your audio) go to Claude, using your plan, along with the bits of memory it needs.
- The answer is spoken by a local voice, while the face shows how it feels.
- Longer jobs go to a background helper; it tells you when they're done, at a natural pause.
Updates and help
Walter checks for updates overnight, installs only tested versions, and rolls back by itself if an update fails. For the beta we're adding cryptographically signed releases, so your box only accepts updates we actually published. If something goes wrong, beta households get direct help from the people building it.
Safe defaults
In the beta, the camera, cloud speech and admin access to the machine all start switched off; you turn on what you want. Walter is a capable agent that can run commands on its own computer, which is why it gets a machine of its own. A more restricted permission mode for the AI is planned before public launch.