Mechanised mutt designed to delight the ladies
Toy company Tomy unveiled the latest sensation in robotic creatures Monday, "Dog.com", a mechanised canine said to acquire a personality of its very own.
Dog.com may sound like a Web site but is in fact a life sized replica of a pooch, albeit equipped with seven sensors designed to respond to the affections of its organic master.
According to Tomy, Dog.com is capable of numerous genuine dog-like reactions including tail wagging, blinking and moving its nose. It is also able to react with no less than 795 different types of sounds including barks, electric beeps and music.
The electronic pup's brain consists of a 8-bit Microprocessor as well as 16KB RAM
Interaction with humans will also cause the dog to develop one of 16 unique personalities. Tomy says it is particularly targeting female customers with the robot animal.
Dog.com follows the in the paw-steps of the very successful Aibo from Sony but is far more modestly priced. It will hit shops in Japan 30 November costing robot pet lovers 14,800 yen (£95).
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