NEW YORK, Aug 1 — Zoetic AI announced this week that Kiki, its ‘conscious,’ pet-like robot whose personality develops based on interactions with its owner, is now available for pre-order on Kickstarter.
Like Sony’s robot dog Aibo or Groove X’s Lovot, Zoetic AI is launching a companion robot whose purpose is not to help you with tasks or productivity, but instead to warm your heart.
The company refers to Kiki as a “conscious, learning robot sidekick” with “a mind of [her] own.” She’s powered by Zoetic AI’s AI Personality Engine which allows her behavior to change and develop based on her interactions with people — it was designed to recognize you and treat you differently from others.
According to the company, in addition to developing a relationship with its owners, Kiki can learn from other Kikis, love you back, and even surprise you. If you treat this robot like a pet you care strongly for, “you become the most important person in her eyes.”
Though this catlike bot is stationary, it’s packed with a slew of sensors, motors, and software that give Kiki lifelike behavior. She’s capable of responding to touch, following you with her eyes and head, and learning in real time. In fact, she will look away and ignore you if you are mean to her or wait in despair for you to come back home after you’ve left.
With a complementary app, you can feed Kiki treats which can be used as a reward when she learns a new trick. When her stomach growls or she gets hangry, you can draw food for her to eat via the app as well.
As of Tuesday, Kiki is available for pre-order. Those interested must pledge US$799 (RM3,292) to Kickstarter to reserve a Kiki whose full retail price is US$1,500. At the time of writing, the campaign had received about a quarter of its US$100,000 goal. — AFP-Relaxnews
