Slashdot Mirror
Robot Cat 'NeCoRo'
Ssmoimo writes: "Omron's robot pet developing department chief Toshihiro Tashima introduces "NeCoRo" in Tokyo Tuesday. The robotic cat will go on sale in November for about $1,530." Chris DiBona said it was "freaky", and I think that's as good a description as any. You can see this thing sucking the breath out of a small child, can't you?
You can't train them and they don't move like Sony Aibo. :(
Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
eeyyaahh!!!!
as someone stated above, they dont move and you cant train them.... so they emulate real cats perfectly
"I would say that 99 per cent of what my father has written about his own life is false." - L. Ron Hubbard Jr.
I'm all about cats, but isn't this just a skinned version of tickle-me-elmo?
No wait, tickle-me-elmo could move!
can't sleep. clowns will eat me.
Cats are the best pets you can have. They are perfect... robotic replacements maybe better for dogs, not for cats.
I understand the Tamagotchi's appeal: It's a little gadget that reacts to different stimulii with a limited range of responses. But it's small, pocket sized, and is actually a social tool as it is quite a conversation piece.
I understand the AIBO's appeal. It's the uber-geek toy of choice. A small, robotic dog that runs around and yips. Great, we can all live out SF fantasies when the lone hero returns to his one room apartment and is greeted by his voluptous holographic host and his robotic dog.
But this... this is a bit sick. Neither the AIBO nor Tamagotchi try to do what this cat is doing: imitate a living being. This is a bit disconcerning. The older gadgets were far enough removed from reality that no one was going to mistake them for something real.
That's not something that I can say about a cat that has a 'fake-fur skin that expands and contracts with its various body movements and facial expressions.' Maybe I'm just bitching, but this doesn't "feel right".
(/me pulls out his best announcer voice)
Now introducing a cat without that litterbox smell! Sure, it doesn't move, and YES it lacks all the compassion and warmth of a real cat! And it's all yours for the new introductory price of $1,530. That's only FIVE TIMES more expensive than the real cat!
--I hate big sigs.
This thing combined with an MP3 player... "the purring sound of your choice"
now THAT would be an improvement
Fighting for peace is like fucking for virginity
Necoro-philiacs?
Tom.
Oh arse
What good is a virtual cat if it doesn't even walk?
:-)
To be a real virtual cat it should trip me while opening the fridge, leave those mouse corpses on the doormat, put his nails in my ass just because i happened to want to sit in my comfy chair without looking and miauw when it's inside to go out and as soon as it's outside miauw because it wants to go in.
just sitting there doesn't do it....Although if it was sleeping the whole day...
I might pay for that
i wonder why they arent called Nukuro, being as Nuku is the japanese word for cat... does Neco mean anything?
"I would say that 99 per cent of what my father has written about his own life is false." - L. Ron Hubbard Jr.
Should have named them "Robo-cat" - that one on the right is about as appealing as Arnold Schwartzeswhatzis...
Of course, most of the cats in Tokyo *are* deformed, so they didn't have good examples to work from...
Cheers,
Jim in Tokyo
-- My Weblog.
"the artificial intelligence and other technologies tested in NeCoRo would find applications in more practical items, such as user-friendly vending machines for train tickets."
Riiiiiight... vending machines covered in fur, that make 48 types of cat noise and purr when you rub them.
shut up man
I'm with you on "Necrotic" but it is probably fine for the Japanese market: neko (nay-ko) means cat in japanese.
saw these on the 11:00 daily show last night. no worries. no chance in hell you could mistake these freaks for a cat. they look like animatronics from disneyland. they also appear to be sinister. I'm certain there's a plot behind it all.
-
Have they managed to improve his driving skills?
What if the Hokey-Pokey really is what it's all about?
At $1500, it damn well better be cool enough to keep me interested for more than a few weeks.
"That's Tron. He fights for the Users."
Okay, who's going to be the first to make a Bonsai NeCoRo?
(And how do they taste chopped-up and stir-fried?)
Chelloveck
I give up on debugging. From now on, SIGSEGV is a feature.
.... then the makers are emulating to the smallest detail the original...
IANAL but write like a drunk one.
Actually, he's referring to the commong wives' tale which suggests that cats should not be left alone with a baby because they will suck the baby's breath out.
My mother actually believes this... She told me very matter-of-factly that she would help me find a home for my cats when my son was born.
Oh well, I guess that's what happens when you don't have a job for 20 years and you just sit at home watching soaps all day.
I wish Sony would just start making robotic versions of animal cartoon characters, or little creatures that don't exist in real life. Yes I know that sounds like a Furby or some other whizbang toy, but at least people won't be making direct comparisons to the "real thing".
Besides, I know a lot of people that wouldn't mind having a robotic pikachu that actually responded to them, or a garfield, or one of those little forest creaturesfrom Princess Mononoke.
Speaking of robotic toys, has anyone tried out a BIO Bug yet? I read about them months ago in Wired and was psyched to hear that they were in stores a few weeks ago. They're $40 if you want one.
l
r 20 01a.htm
Has anyone used one yet? Are they neat, or are they a letdown like Furby? Any chances of hacking them?
Links to BIO Bug articles:
wowwee.com/biobugs/biointerface.html
www.wirelessnewsfactor.com/perl/story/14076.htm
toycollecting.about.com/library/weekly/bltoyfai
------
Let me give you the lowdown
Raising it's butt when you scratch it
Getting up and walking out of the room for absolutely no apparent reason.
Scratching the bejeezus out of your hand when you scratch it's belly.
Playing "Turdball" across your living room.
Laying down on your newspaper when you're reading it.
And most imporantly:
Pushing it's butt in your face so you can smell it.
On the other hand, they definately have the "ignore you" down pat. Perhaps it shouldn't be named "NeCoRo" and instead be called "Necro." It's a bit more fitting.
Really?
The Dopester
"Yes, I'm a Karma Whore, but I'm doing it to pay my way through school."
"Hello, Omron customer support. How can I help you?"
"I went all the way to Tokyo and paid $1500 for some hot pussy and she gave out after the 5th day"
"Sir, put your hand inside the pussy and and press that little thing to see if it's turned on"
"Whoops, sorry. I didn't push hard enough. She's turned on now." Click.
I will say this about Necoro: even though it looks like Toonces or like the cat from Sabrina, at least it looks more or less like a real cat, and not some pathetic imitation of a metallic robot trying to look like a pathetic imitation of a cat.
#naabhaprzrag, #sverubfr-000, #agi-fcbafberq, negvpyr[pynff*=' negvpyr-ary-'] { qvfcynl: abar !vzcbegnag; }
This was on "The Daily Show" last night.
"NeCoRo: His furballs are real, but he is not."
LOL
It doesn't mean much now, it's built for the future.
Stefan
Perhaps someone could mirror this before it's totally gone? I used the link in the background of the picture in the article, and after a bit of browsing found this rather large picture of two of the cats.
The link is pretty slow, which is why I hoped someone might mirror it. Hope they can handle some extra load!
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
I think the designers of this robot cat ought to integrate the AI portion into the Real Doll...
(Insert your own joke here.)
"she says i'm lousy conversation. as if that's supposed to help."
instead of a litter box. Granted I had a lot of help getting her to do it but it is great now.
If only I could teach her to flush, then she would be better than my room-mate.
errr....umm...*whooosh* *whoosh* Is this thing on ?
this is Japan, where space is at the MOST premium in the world. A dog needs space, even a cat needs some space, as much as this thing gives me the creeps, I can see the motivation for the manufacturers in that market.
errr....umm...*whooosh* *whoosh* Is this thing on ?