Day 21 - Furries

Not those furries. These furries.

Thinking about furry robots. I have one:

This is Theranos, my Joy For All robot cat, so named because he's a fake cat. He meows (terribly), purrs (convincingly), licks his paw, turns his head to nuzzle your hand, and rolls over on his back for belly rubs. He has a setting to turn off his meows, so he's mute.

It's nice to have something furry to hold, and the purring is soothing. There's something to be said for a furry robot.

This one from the makers of MarsCat looks very similar but moves its tail and blinks: MetaCat.

But I'm more intrigued by what some other robot makers are doing with the idea. There are a couple of more abstract furry robots, one on the market, one upcoming, that I'm interested in.

Qoobo is a "cushion with a tail" that comes in two sizes, regular and "Petit." The regular one has a long, catlike tail, while the Petit has the cutest little nub. When you pick it up or stroke it, the tail reacts. It can twitch or gently move back and forth.

And now it appears to be on Amazon, instead of having to import it yourself, and I am sorely tempted! Maybe next month.

Another furry robot that I'm excited about, but that's not yet out, is Moflin. Moflin was crowdfunded and the first round is supposed to be shipping to funders in August. It's a little furry blob that can wiggle and is based around it having emotions and personality that changes in response to input. It charges wirelessly (and adorably) in a little nest.

I'm eager to see how the first round of Moflins do and I wish them success so that I might have a Moflin of my own!