Instawork launches Instacore wearable robotics data tool

Instawork Robotics Lab has launched Instacore in India, a wearable system designed to gather training data for robots and physical AI models.

The product was introduced in Bengaluru as part of the company's robotics data operations in India.

Instacore is a five-camera wearable system for workplaces such as kitchens, warehouses, hotels and manufacturing facilities. Instawork developed the hardware with robotics partners and workers from its network so people can wear it through a full shift while continuing their normal tasks.

The system includes cameras mounted on the head, chest and wrists, linked to a compute backpack. A stereo head camera provides depth perception, while the chest camera records a wider view of the work setting. Wrist cameras and tracking markers help computer vision systems calculate the position and angle of each hand.

The design can also be adapted to different partner requirements, including alternative camera arrangements and the use of grippers. Businesses that take part in data collection are paid for every hour of data captured, and participating sites do not need to buy the hardware upfront.

Data demand

The launch comes as robotics groups seek larger volumes of real-world training data for machines expected to work in commercial settings rather than controlled lab environments. Instawork argues that the main constraint is not computing infrastructure, but the limited scale and variety of data showing how people perform physical tasks in changing workplaces.

"Compute isn't the bottleneck in physical AI anymore. The scale and diversity of real-world skill data is. Instacore is light enough that workers wear it through full shifts, capturing synchronized camera and sensor streams from kitchens, warehouses, and workshops across India, where the task, the tool, and the environment change every fifty kilometers. That variance is what frontier labs are asking for and need," said Siddharth Srivastava, Head of the Instawork Robotics Lab, APAC, Instawork.

Instawork says robotics developers still lack the volume of training data needed to teach machines physical dexterity at scale. It estimates the industry gathered about 100,000 hours of robot training data in 2024 and about one million hours in 2025, with projections of 20 million hours in 2026.

Even at that level, the total would remain below 0.04% of the volume some researchers believe will eventually be required, according to the company. Instawork is positioning India as a useful location for collecting such data because of the range of workplaces, tasks and operating conditions across the country.

Income model

Instawork says the system is also meant to create an additional revenue stream for local businesses and workers by linking robotics companies with its network of more than 10 million professionals. Known for its labour marketplace in the United States and Canada, the company says the same model could expand participation in AI-related work in India.

For host businesses, the proposition is that workers can continue their usual jobs while wearing the equipment, allowing data to be gathered from live commercial operations instead of staged demonstrations. That could give robotics firms access to more varied examples of tasks such as handling tools, moving items, navigating spaces and responding to different layouts.

The approach is intended to avoid disruption to day-to-day operations. By compensating businesses for time already being worked, Instawork is trying to lower the barrier to participation and widen the supply of usable robotics data.

"At Instawork, our overarching mission is to create economic opportunities for local businesses and hourly workers across the globe. With Instacore, we're giving businesses and their employees a completely new way to participate in India's AI economy without disrupting daily operations," said Vaibhav Pandey, General Manager of Instawork India, Instawork.

Market backdrop

Instawork tied the launch to broader forecasts for robotics and data work. It cited a Goldman Sachs estimate that the humanoid robot market could reach USD $38 billion by 2035, a Grand View Research projection that the global data collection and labelling market could reach USD $17 billion by 2030, and a Deloitte estimate that nearly 2 million skilled physical AI jobs will go unfilled by 2030.

Those figures point to a growing commercial market not only for robots themselves, but also for the collection and preparation of the data used to train them. Instawork's pitch is that wearable systems such as Instacore can turn ordinary workplaces into sources of that data while also giving workers and employers a paid role in the process.

Instacore was conceptualised and manufactured by Instawork Robotics Lab, according to the company.