Take home a robot dog
Is your family nagging you about getting a dog? Give them a techy taste of the real thing with an adorable robotic pup
Owning a dog is something many people aspire to – dogs offer unconditional love and companionship, and are always up for a game of fetch. Yep, dogs can be wonderful… Apart from those moments when they tear your sofa a new one, or get a case of the squits and you have to scrape liquid poop off the pavement when taking them for a walk.
Tech company WowWee reckons it has a solution for those who want a dog but aren’t ready for the responsibility that comes with owning a real pooch. CHiP is a small yet robust robotic dog that offers a fun and adorable way to simulate various interactions with the real thing.
CHiP has been created to play, explore, adore, obey and rest. Designed with an advanced locomotion system, enabling omni-direction motion and agility, it can deftly avoid obstacles (ie furniture). Beacon sense technology helps him to recognise what’s happening around him, while accelerometer and gyroscope sensors help the robot pooch to become aware of when he’s being picked up.
Download the CHiP app and you can set up notifications to let you know when he’s hungry, needs to sleep, wants to play or simply wants to be petted. Capacitive touch sensors enable CHiP to feel your touch. WowWee’s cute robotic pup will also learn to recognise you, its owner. That means he can be trained to wait for you at the door each day when you come home from work.
A range of accessories are included with CHiP, including two Smartband controllers and a Bluetooth-enabled ball. The ball is loaded with eight sensors so that CHiP can easily find and catch it when you’re playing fetch together. The four mecanum wheels in place of paws mean he can zoom around, too.
Give a robot dog a home today and get your first taste of what’s it like living with tech’s answer to man’s best friend.
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If you want to learn more about CHiP and see him in action, check out the promo video on WowWee’s dedicated CHiP website (www.chipk9.com). Ready to buy? You can pre-order CHiP for $199 (£151), with shipping to begin this July.
CHiP comes with two Smartband controllers, a Bluetooth ball and a bed that doubles as a charging pod, to which he intuitively returns to sleep (to charge). When you get CHiP home, download the app (Android and iOS) and follow the set-up instructions.
CHiP can communicate with you in woofs, growls, whines and barks, and loves to learn new tricks. And the smarter CHiP becomes, the more badges he’ll earn via the app.
“CHIP has four mecanum wheels in place of paws, so that he can zoom around while playing fetch with you”