This AI Chucky Cat Toy Will Haunt Your House
This AI cat toy needs to go back to operating room for a facelift. Toys are meant to make people happy, not scare them.
This toy cat is bundled as the perfect AI robotic pet mate for people who don’t want to bother with fur, sharp teeth, claws and litter boxes, attributes that make a cat a cat. So why does this toy look like something designed to scare away burglars?
The company that manufactured this AI cat, called Elephant Robotics, touts this furry ball of circuits and meows as a “realistic” Ragdoll breed. For those unfamiliar with cat breeds, the Ragdoll is known as an affectionate cat that loves to sit on your lap and purr. And that’s about all that this toy cat does.
This MetaCat will look comfy on Zuckerberg’s lap
The manufacturer didn’t think long or hard on giving this cat a cute name to help with marketing and sales. It anointed this toy with the moniker “MetaCat.” Does that mean MetaCat would look comfortable on Mark Zuckerberg’s lap? Probably.
There’s something about the frowning blue eyes of MetaCat, though, that’s unsettling. Think of a creepy Chucky doll with fur.
In MetaCat’s description on Amazon, the manufacturer states that this toy meows, purrs, moves its head and tail and blinks its eyes. It operates with batteries.
Apparently, MetaCat meows and purrs when you stroke its synthetic fur. You can pretend to feed it, and there’s no real cat poop to clean up later.
Schedule an appointment for a haircut
One disturbing feature is that MetaCat comes with a comb and lint roller. Why? One of the sales points for this AI cat is that it’s ideal as a fake pet cat because it doesn’t shed fur.
Does this cat grow new fur after combing, or do you end up with a bald cat? People are amazed that AI techniques are advancing geometrically, but who wants a cat robot that grows hair? It seems ludicrous to take your robot cat to the pet salon for a haircut.
MetaCat will float in the toilet
Giving this cat to your grandmother as a companion seems problematic. Grandma might find dusting this hair-growing cat toy irritating when she has better things to do. Dust…vacuum hair…dust…sweep hair. No grandma wants that.
Kids might be bored after a few minutes. Beyond a few meows, MetaCat doesn’t do much. Kids will lose interest after finding that MetaCat only floats in the toilet and doesn’t shriek and jump out like a real cat
The engineers in the AI cat lab need to pull out the screwdrivers and ohm meters. Hire a plastic surgeon. Give MetaCat a smiley face. Make it poop gumdrops. Do something interesting. Poor MetaCat doesn’t do enough fun things to qualify it as a cutting-edge AI toy.
For now, give it fresh batteries, hang it by the tail from a ceiling and see if its creepy Chucky eyes scare burglars away.
