Freakin' creepy cat robots... (drumroll, please) from Japan

You know good ol' Aibo: cute, obviously robotic, completely harmless. These catbots from Necoro? Sick and wrong. They're obviously being controlled remotely by real cats who've been enslaved by the Necoro overlords. Don't worry, folks — Engadget is right now assembling an international investigative committee to get those cats sprung free. More news as it breaks.

Cat robot video [MOV]

[Via Boing Boing]

[Bilgin @ Dec 19th 2005 1:21AM]

No... GOD NO!!..

You better not be lying about that international investigative committee!!

[doctord @ Dec 19th 2005 1:21AM]

Hey, no fleas, no hairballs, no shredded drapes. What's not to like?

[Jive3D @ Dec 19th 2005 1:21AM]

I feel like I saw this video over a year ago...

[josh @ Dec 19th 2005 1:21AM]

I for one wellcome our new robotic cat overloards

[Jive3D @ Dec 19th 2005 1:21AM]

I feel like I've seen this video before - over a year ago perhaps...?

[BuckyKatt @ Dec 19th 2005 1:21AM]

Toonces!!!

[tips @ Dec 19th 2005 1:21AM]

Yeah, I was hoping it was a new video with an updated design. Same one, though.

I wonder if these are programmed to eventually suffocate you when you're sleeping?

[distantbody @ Dec 19th 2005 1:21AM]

Sabrina The Teenage Witch, anyone?

[Guido @ Dec 19th 2005 1:21AM]

It's like having your own harmless-looking Robocop!

Erm... I'll pass

[sunz @ Dec 19th 2005 1:21AM]

i'd like to see how a real cat reacts to that thing ....

does anyone know if it has some sort of motion sensors and/or algorithms to give it more realistic motion responses?

[Ken @ Dec 19th 2005 1:21AM]

Note that they don't actually show the cat walking...Leads me to believe it can't.

[lupinstel @ Dec 19th 2005 1:21AM]

This cat looks more like his name should be Necro (the living corpse cat).

[Jive3D @ Dec 19th 2005 1:21AM]

Neco = Cat in Japanese. Obviously fusing Neco with the word cord? seems like they could have come up with a better name

[BmxKID @ Dec 19th 2005 1:21AM]

Neko and Robot is just TOO implausible!

[Jonathan N. @ Dec 19th 2005 1:21AM]

Cameron had it all wrong. Its not going to be humanoid machines that take out humanity....its the feline machines. How could we have been so blind? o.O

[ketch @ Dec 19th 2005 1:21AM]

Almost as good as http://www.bonsaikitten.com/

[tigerXP @ Dec 19th 2005 1:21AM]

First I play with Judd, then Mommy came, and I play with Mommy. We play Daddy! We had a awfully good time! Now, I want to play with YOU!!!... Pet Sematary

[saleh @ Dec 19th 2005 1:21AM]

These have been around for a while. I saw one a couple of years ago at Kiddy Land in Harajuku, and it was even scarier in real life than the video; for about 10 seconds, I thought "why is that cat sealed in a plexiglass box, and why aren't there any air holes?"

[B @ Dec 19th 2005 1:21AM]

Is it housebroken, or does it leave little battries all over the house? And I do not want to know how it goes about marking its territory.

[Rocket Punch @ Dec 19th 2005 1:21AM]

Ok, all I wanted to know is if they will make a "ParisHiltonRo" so I can make my own video. PM me plz.

[Octorok @ Dec 19th 2005 1:21AM]

Did you see the pictures on the Necoro website? F***ing Hilarious!

http://www.necoro.com

[Lily Pond @ Dec 19th 2005 1:21AM]

FAKE CAT: I will be purr and be soft under your fingers.
ME: Fake cat, will you still my loneliness?
FAKE CAT: No, but I will be lonely with you.
ME: Fake cat, are you like Edward Scissorshand or Pinoccio, in that you want to be real and/or have hands?
FAKE CAT: (blushes) Yes... hands, and fingers, like my programmer.
ME: Fake cat, I love you. This is the real thing.
FAKE CAT: I have the ability to watch the sky and not care if it goes grey.
ME: Fake cat, you will be the purring sun in my life.
FAKE CAT: And I never need to have my anal glands extracted.

[Jacob @ Dec 19th 2005 1:21AM]

Being familliar with Japanese alitteration, "Necoro" sounds way to close to the english word "necro" for comfort...

[majortom @ Dec 19th 2005 1:21AM]

This is rather old. Press release on sales is on http://www.necoro.com/newsrelease/index.html
October 16, 2001 -Omron Corporation (President and CEO: Yoshio Tateisi, Headquarters: Kyoto) will begin selling as a new product a cat type communication robot from November 20. Orders can be placed at Takashimaya (limited to 7 stores) starting October 17, and orders will be accepted by phone or over the Internet from November 3. Available in two colors, gray and brown, sales at this time will be restricted to 5,000 units.

[ixalon @ Dec 19th 2005 1:21AM]

I was hoping for a surprise ending where the eyes glowed red, shortly followed by a melee of claws, fangs and hissing - just like you would get if you held your average real cat like that

[John P. @ Dec 19th 2005 1:21AM]

Sadly, this thing DOES NOT WALK. What an utterly useless robot cat:


http://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=188747&page=1

Though the feline can't walk, it can wag its tail, detect movement through an optical sensor, stretch its body, and meow, hiss and purr, depending on its "mood" and any environmental stimulation.

[David Phillip Oster @ Dec 19th 2005 1:21AM]

The name does seem to be a Japanese-style combination of "nekko" (Japanese for cat) and "necro" (dead flesh).

[Will @ Dec 19th 2005 1:21AM]

*buys one, skins it, replaces it with a hello kitty cover and sells it on eBay for thousands*

[charles johns @ Dec 19th 2005 1:21AM]

dude cats rock forget robo cats!i mean who wants a robot walkin around all like (meow meow i am a cat) it would fly if they had laser vision and could do my home work,but i like regular cats! Kitty power! ahh yeah, uh i mean meow
love,
big daddy cat

[charles johns @ Dec 19th 2005 1:21AM]

dude cats rock forget robo cats!i mean who wants a robot walkin around all like (meow meow i am a cat) it would fly if they had laser vision and could do my home work,but i like regular cats! Kitty power! ahh yeah, uh i mean meow
love,
big daddy cat