I Can’t Decide Whether This Robot Cat Is Cute, Terrifying, Or Both

Most companion robots are designed with the elderly in mind, and Hasbro’s new robotic cat is no exception. But, of course, old folks aren’t the only people who might want a robot friend to assuage their loneliness. As soon as I heard about the robot cat, I thought: “My landlord doesn’t allow pets, my partner is allergic to cats, and I love robots. Maybe I should get a robot cat???”

Or maybe not. As soon as I saw what the robot cat looked like, I had second thoughts. It looks a lot cuddlier than, say, a Furby–but it still looks a bit off, in its own uncanny way. Fast-forward to a minute and 15 seconds into the BBC video above if you want to get a look at how the robot cat looks in action.

This cat also doesn’t look like it’ll do any of the stuff an actual cat does–like ignore you, demand to be petted and then get overstimulated and scratch you, or fantasize about killing you. Then again, the rise of our robot overlords is imminent, so maybe robot cats and real cats have more in common than I thought?

(via BBC)

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Maddy Myers

Maddy Myers, journalist and arts critic, has written for the Boston Phoenix, Paste Magazine, MIT Technology Review, and tons more. She is a host on a videogame podcast called Isometric (relay.fm/isometric), and she plays the keytar in a band called the Robot Knights (robotknights.com).

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