THE ROBOTS WE ACTUALLY NEED

WHAT IF THE FUTURE OF ROBOTICS ISN'T HUMAN AT ALL, BUT SOFT, CUTE, FRIENDLY AND BUILT TO HAVE A CALMING EFFECT? HERE ARE SOME EXPERT AFRICAN INSIGHTS.

- By Tiana Cline

Meet Moflin, Casio's AI-powered fluffy robotic companion.

It's adorable, huggable and develops its own personality and emotions based on how you interact with it, just like a real pet. Unlike traditional robotic toys, Moflin is designed to act like a living creature. It wiggles, squeaks and senses when you're nearby. It has AI-induced independent emotions that evolve through daily interaction–you'll pet Moflin, talk to it, hug it and in doing so, you'll begin to form a bond. Over time, Moflin will recognize your voice and become attached. The more time you spend with Moflin, the more unique its character will become. In fact, there are over four million possible personality traits this little AI robot pet can acquire. It's essentially a portable, emotional support robot, a high-end fluffy Tamagotchi (handheld digital pets) that runs for around five hours until you pop it back into its bed to recharge. Moflin costs $429 (~R7,300) and over 10,000 were sold in Japan before Casio released the little robot worldwide.

What's interesting is how, in a world focused on humanoids, there is high demand for a companion robot like Moflin. “When you build robots that look like cute animals, there's no expectation that they can do all the things that humans can do–because they don't look human,” says Dr Steven James, Deputy Director of the RAIL Lab research group at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa.