Do Androids dream of electric sheep? I don’t know, as I haven’t had the pleasure of conversing with one yet.
But our human peers at Hasbro, the American company that is one of the largest toy makers in the world, sure dreamed about electric pets. And not only dreamed, but acted upon this as well.
Because Hasbro has just launched a new toy which would fit perfectly in Philip K. Dick’s novel “Do Android Dream Of Electric Sheep” that I was not so subtly referencing above.
In the novel, a nuclear war has turned most of the Earth into a radioactive waste and rendered most animals extinct or endangered, which is why owning a live animal is considered a symbol of high social status (also being a great part of the religion of Mercerism based on empathy). So those that can’t find or afford to buy a biological animal order artificial robotic replicas instead.
Last time I checked, radioactive dust wasn’t falling down from the sky outside, so it looks like we’ve managed to get the perk of robotic animals without all the other bad stuff. Not so sure about that empathy being of the utmost importance in society yet, but I’m sure someone’s working on that as well.
The Hasbro robot pet cat, which the company calls the Companion Pet, has been designed with as much realism as possible in mind, featuring feedback to (some) outside stimuli, audio and motion outputs and the exterior aspect of a real feline.
In other words, if you move around the room it notices it and becomes awake (which also happens if you nudge its back). If you pet it it purrs (a feature which the company calls “Vibrapurr”). If you keep pet it it will lounge on its back and present you its belly, for rubbing. If you pet it even more it curls into a comfy position and goes to sleep. And if you touch its left cheek, it will emotionally blackmail you like a real cat, by moving said head into your hand. All of this while it is clothed in real fur which its creators endowed it with.
And there’s no hassle accompanying these positive manifestations mentioned above, as you don’t have to clean up after it or train it to use the litter or feed it. And most notably, it doesn’t have the typical feline moodiness that results in loving scratches and bites.
You do however have to remember to recharge it, because it works on batteries.
Part of Hasbro’s “Joy For All”, product line the robo-kitty was designed with elderly people in mind, of which studies have shown almost half to be constantly lonely and consequently depressed. The Hasbro robot pet cat hopes to alleviate some of that.
It costs 99$.
Image source: 1.
Deborah Campbell
