Kiki the pet robot wants to be your best friend and doesn't shed fur
With an adorable face and AI capabilities, Kiki adapts to its owner's personality.
THOSE EYES.
Flaunting giant anime eyes and a sleek design reminiscent of Eva from Wall-E, Kiki is an AI-powered pet robot making its CES 2019 debut. Created by Zoetic, a company based in Santa Clara, California, Kiki is a companionship robot meant to offer its owners company and friendship.
Kiki has a camera in its nose, which it uses to recognize and remember people. Once it locks onto your face, it can track you by turning its head -- which couldn't help but bring a smile to my face despite my best efforts. Depending on your body language, it can tell when you're feeling sad and will try to cheer you up by singing and dancing.
Using machine learning and AI, it also continually learns about its owner's personality and adjusts accordingly. If its owner is affectionate, it'll want more pets and scratches. If its owner is more independent, it'll can be aloof as well.
Despite being a robot, Kiki does have its own needs, however. It has to be fed, for instance, and you do this by drawing common food items (which it's programmed to recognize) in an accompanying app.
Zoetic doesn't have pricing yet, and it's still looking for distributors. It does hope to sell Kiki globally, including the US.
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