Toyota has come up with a talking robot, named Kirobo, that is designed to talk to you while you are driving. Only four inches high, it will fit into the cup holder of a Toyota Corolla, and will carry on a conversation, even being able to judge your mood and recognize facial expressions. It will remember your likes and dislikes, as well as any other car trips that you have taken together.
I want one for Christmas! Maybe it will keep me awake driving to my daughter's house. Can I bring him in my house too? Sometime talking to Pickles gets boring. Edit: OIC, you have to have a Toyota, right?
As far as I can determine, they are separate from the car so, although they are designed to fit into the Toyota Corolla cup holder, they would work with any car. I don't know that they are being sold outside of Japan yet, though.
I saw this the other day, and it appeals to me. I don't have the money for such things these days, but in the past, I probably would have bought one. I still like my I-Cat, although come to think of it, I need to change his batteries. I hope you get one of these for Christmas, if they're available here, @Chrissy Page.
No, it only interacts with the music, goes by frequency, i think. It's older, so isn't as high tech as the furbies or this new one that Ken posted about.
Someone talking to me would keep me awake while I drive...I get so sleepy on a long boring stretch of hwy 152.
I don't think this would be any more distracting than OnStar or another GPS. I find those extremely distracting, and also disturbing. I can see how they can be helpful, but I don't like a voice from nowhere, especially since I've seen them take people in wrong directions. I'd rather have one of these, so at least I could feel o.k. talking back to it . I used to have an issue with getting very tired while driving, too, and if this can help with that, it'd be worth considering.