>
No two real dogs are the same. They differ in temperament, personality and appearance. That’s why we love them. Now WowWee thinks it could bring that one-in-a-million appeal to robot dogs.
When robot toys were a thing, their weirdness and proximity to the mysterious valley (opens in new tab) was often part of their appeal. At the head of the attack was WowWee, which sold a succession of eccentric Robosapiens robo characters to Roboraptor (opens in new tab) all of which were surprisingly weird.
But the robot craze faded and interest shifted from physical to screen-based fun. Robot toys largely disappeared and arrived instead blind surprise toy (opens in new tab): many times you bought eggs sight unseen, all only to tear them open to discover a collection of figurines and stuffed animals.
WowWee didn’t sit around watching the demise of robot toys, it shifted to things like the Fingerlings (opens in new tab) and Avastars (opens in new tab). It never forgot about robots, but getting back into it would require a change of perspective: it can’t be expensive; it couldn’t just be a robot. The company ended up drawing inspiration from two unexpected spaces: NFTs and blind toys.
The result is Mintid Dog-E, unveiled here at CES 2023 in Las Vegas. It’s a bland-looking, all-white robot pup at first, but that bland demeanor is part of the toy’s genius. You see, no one knows when they buy the $79.99 ($99.99 in Canada) toy (in October) what kind of robot dog they’re getting. All the personality and life are hidden in sleeping motors, turned off LEDs, cute folded ears and a motionless tail that does something I’ve never seen in a robot dog before.
Taking Dog-E out of the box and turning it on will give the pup a coin for the first time, setting the robot toy he will become in motion. The ears unfold and light up, as do the eyes, chest and paws. The custom combination of lights and different colors tell you what kind of robot dog you have, as the tail wags furiously. The latter goes so fast that the taillights (yup, I said it) use persistence of motion to spell out words and deliver Dog-E messages to you. In the prototype, I saw movement produce a loud noise, but WowWee executives insist that will be sorted by the time Dog-E hits the shelves.
WowWee pairs Dog-E with an app (iOS or Android) where you can interact with the pup the Tamagotchi way, deliver treats and food, and track things like hunger, happiness, and love.
The same app can also be used to remotely control the robot and glide it around on its movable legs. There may be a separate app to enable Dog-E’s STEM-based programming features, which allow users to map out a series of robo-dog actions.
Still, in my brief interaction with Dog-E, I found that it needed no remote management. It responded to touch and jumped forward excitedly. He barks and makes other noises and can also hear your voice. I could pick up Dog-E and his plastic tongue would pop out of his head and “lick” my face.
As part of the one-in-a-million dog concept, attributes such as the tongue will be modified. Different colored tongues may indicate a rarer Dog-E find (gold will be ultra rare). The app tells you what kind of dog you have, but you can also find out through Dog-E’s engagement. For example, a Chihuahua will move much faster than, say, a Bulldog.
While you may be able to slap and develop your Dog-E yourself, you can use the app to slap multiple robot pups into one Dog-E. Switching profiles (up to 11) results in different Dog-E pets. WowWee even envisions that if a child doesn’t like the robot friend they ended up with, they could remember their Dog-E.
Dog-E comes with what looks like a sock chew toy. It has a built-in squeaky toy that, when it squeaks, will stop Dog-E in her way. The magnet connects to a magnet in Dog-E’s nose so he can pull and play with it. In the prototype I saw, the nose was a button, but that may change by the time Dog-E ships later this year.
Check out TechRadar’s CES 2023 latest news. We’ll bring you all breaking tech news and launches, everything from 8K TVs and foldable displays to new phones, laptops and smart home gadgets.