Feeling lonely while surfing the Internet? The Karotz Smart Rabbit Robotic companion can help.
The cute, customizable device, created by Violet, uses Web-connected voice recognition technology to read and upload messages, take photos with a built-in camera, send notifications, and even function as a friendly alarm clock, while talking aloud and wiggling its ears.
The Smart Rabbit is another entry in the growing market of technology kitsch, as mobile devices and social networking sites increasingly become part of everyday life.
The robotic buddy is heavily integrated with Facebook and Twitter, notifying users of wall posts and messages from their social networking sites by lighting up, moving its ears, and reading them aloud.
Smart Rabbit has proven popular among teens and tweens, and 157 million Facebook users worldwide share their desktops with the mechanical pal. Friends can click on another user’s rabbit to make its ears move and light up with different colors.
Customizable options include Skinz tattoos, detachable USB tails in several colors, and matching Flatnanoz key ring tags embedded with RFID chips. The key rings can trigger apps and send alerts, automatically notifying users when the kids get home from school, for example.
The Karotz Smart Rabbit certainly isn’t a necessity, but it does allow humans to wander at least a few feet away from their computers and smartphones, calling them back when receiving notifications. there is no need to stay glued to a screen waiting for an email when a friendly, hairless bunny can chirp upon its arrival and then read it to you out loud.
Technology has carved out a permanent presence in modern life, and more products like the Smart Rabbit will likely appear going forward, allowing consumers to tailor their tech the way they do their wardrobes.
The Karotz Smart Rabbit retails for $130 and requires free corresponding apps available for iOS and Android.
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