The cellular squirrel screens your calls (yes, we said squirrel).

We love the concept behind this device — to screen your cellphone calls for importance while you're busy chatting up someone else — we just have no idea why it involves a squirrel. MIT's Stefan Marti has developed the Bluetooth, animatronic, context-aware Cellular Squirrel as part of his dissertation project — when it picks up an incoming call, it actually engages the remote caller in a conversation and compares keywords from the interaction to keywords picked up from the conversation you're having nearby. It combines this data with your contact list and the caller's tone of voice to determine whether the call is important enough to interrupt you. Yeah, we laugh at it, but we secretly want one, because to get your attention it gyrates its body in that animatronic way that makes us feel kinda funny. We've installed a fleet of 20 in the Engadget call center.

[Via Mobile burn]

[anon @ Dec 19th 2005 1:24AM]

it's so cute......

can it tell the call that you can't answer the phone right now because you've gone 'nuts'

[Michael @ Dec 19th 2005 1:24AM]

Just wait until these guys start flipping out and going after people... Just like squirrels always do!

[Justin @ Dec 19th 2005 1:24AM]

Oh come on man - the question really is, why NOT a squirrel? Duhhh.

[KBrew @ Dec 19th 2005 1:24AM]

A squirrel once saved my New Jersey ass from some pigeons that came from NYC to kill me.

[steve @ Dec 19th 2005 1:24AM]

my wife bought a busted squirrel beanie baby off eBay because it endured a "hard winter" and now it's lodged "secretly" in one of our house plants.

we're so gonna get this

[Pat @ Dec 19th 2005 1:24AM]

This is really just anouther way for Big Brother to watch us and their just packaging it in a cuwt wittwe squiwwel. Awwwwwww. *buys 1,000 to hand out to people on the street corner*

[SR @ Dec 19th 2005 1:24AM]

I need one right now.

[Finished.Law.School @ Dec 19th 2005 1:24AM]

"Don't touch that squirrels' nuts."

[Fixen @ Dec 19th 2005 1:24AM]

It's been a while since I've seen anything that's cool and cute at the same time.

Why can't Mr. Marti just make the squirrel throw a nut at the caller instead?

[GOD @ Dec 19th 2005 1:24AM]

The only question is: Where can I pick up one of these?

[Lenbot @ Dec 19th 2005 1:24AM]

I never owned a cell phone before but to own 1 of those. I would probably by one. Its better than a lazy cat who just sits there and looks at the phone.

[joe @ Dec 19th 2005 1:24AM]

YOU WILL BOW TO MY ARMY OF STARVED CRAZED SQUIRRELS!!! HAHAHA

[Man @ Dec 19th 2005 1:24AM]

A rat version for us in NYC would be cool.

[Permanent4 @ Dec 19th 2005 1:24AM]

OhMyGodISawASquirrelTellMeIHadAPhoneCallAndHeWent "WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/weeee.php

[Scott Zoeller @ Dec 19th 2005 1:24AM]

I think this will only create more issues in regards to screening calls. You can't program every possible circumstance, so you could miss the call of a lifetime and break a call for a joker just because of this little rodent. And besides, you'd only have access to it's useless abilities at a permanent site unless you're nutty enough to carry this thing around. What's wrong with programming your cell phone to have a caller priority list and an emergency option on call waiting. I just wonder what lengths people will go to come up with the next 'so-called' big hit.

[Mary @ Dec 19th 2005 1:24AM]

Wow! Very impressive!

[Samuel Lago @ Dec 19th 2005 1:24AM]

This is the kind of stuff I want to see coming out of MIT more often, nice one!

[Andrew B @ Dec 19th 2005 1:24AM]

I think it's funny that an ad for humane squirrel traps appears on the context-ads part of this page.

[Blue Gramps @ Dec 19th 2005 1:24AM]

I molest children: [e-mail]