Doraemon Robot

Juniper Foo | Oct 04, 2005

It makes sense that a blue-skinned robocat from the future would eventually have a robot self out there in the real world. Like Pinocchio, toy maker Bandai has imbued the gadget cat with life, though with the aid of high-tech wizardry. Thanks to voice recognition, this earless feline can interact with humans, in Japanese that is. Sensors also alert Xiao Ding Dang so that when someone hits it on the head, it'll yelp "hey, that hurts". Or when stroked, it'll say "if you're going to stroke me I wouldn't mind a bean-jam pancake as well". Fans will likely be pleased that Bandai has worked in the little detail of Doraemon's magic belly pouch, so you can actually hide small articles in it. And like Sony's Aibo dog, Xiao Ding Dang also responds to special cards read via infrared, which will prompt it to dance and sing. It's hard to feel blue when this kawaii cat with the giant smile is around.

More Doraemon collectibles: Doraemon J300i for Asia | Doraemon Helicopter | See feature parts of robot here

Price: 20,790 yen (US$183)
Availability: Only 5,000 units for sale this year; osamanoidea.com
Device: Robot
Basic specs: Recognizes about 750 spoken words and nine human words including "Doraemon", "Let's play", and "Mouse", 10 types of light and inclination sensors, 26.5cm tall, 1.3kg

Filed under: Gadgets
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