One of my co-workers got an i-Cybie for his birthday, and he brought it in today. All afternoon I've been hearing the metallic recorded bark and the whirring and clicking of robo-pup gears in the cubes outside my office. The dog is pretty strange -- in the dark, it looks like an evil Terminator-inspired dog with it's vaguely dog skull-like head and glowing red eyes.
You control it with a remote control, and it does various tricks, such as head stands, bowing and the typical doggie commands. It'll also wander on its own, and guard (though none of us have figured out how to trigger the guard). I'm impressed by the joint system on the pup, but ultimately the i-Cybie is one of those toys that's essentially very expensive and somewhat useless.
But seeing this robotic dog got me thinking... why are people making robotic dogs and cats when the market could be so much bigger for other animals? I mean, I can see lions, tigers and bears being just as popular as the cats and dogs. Open it up to mythical and extinct creatures like unicorns and dinosaurs, and I think you've got something that could be popular. A robotic pikachu? I think kids would go nuts for it.
i-Cybie available at Amazon.Com
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