r ob ots TOYS
iRobot Scooba 450
Specially designed to
clean hard floors, it will
make your marble gleam.
Just press the button and
it soaks, scrubs and mops
your floors — annihilating
99.3 per cent of bacteria
South Korea,
robot capital
Zoomer Interactive
Robot Dog
A great way to test
if your young ones
can look after a
real pet – and pick
up a new language
(Zoomer understands
English, Spanish and
French commands)
Paro
A moving, feeling,
‘healing pet’. Perfect
as a companion for
the disabled or elderly,
Paro can sense the
time of day, recognise
its name and change
facial expressions
Much like a pet, first-time robot owners are surprised at how much
their purchase transforms their social lives. Proudly display R2-D2
on your work desk and you’ll find yourself chatting to colleagues
you never knew you had, as they pop by to get the bot to boogie
down. And even a relatively simple cleaner bot like the Scooba 450
will make visitors to your house think they’ve entered a universe
far, far away. Big or small, robots are the perfect gift for the person
who has everything – they’re a slice of the future, right now.
Futurama Bright
n’ Shiny Bender
Wind-Up Tin Robot
Arguably the coolest
character from the
animated series
Futurama, Bender the
robot brightens up
your desk, and acts as
a handy candy stash —
his chest compartment
even opens up
If all these techno-goodies
still don’t satiate your love for
robotics, just wait until next year.
In 2016, South Korea will finally
open its long-awaited theme
park Robot Land. No prizes for
guessing what the theme is.
Located in Incheon, just two
hours drive away from Seoul, it
will incorporate edutainment,
research and good old fashioned
fun. Spanning over 380,000
square metres at a cost of roughly
US$625 million, it’s clear the
developers aim to make this a
top-tier Asian destination. One
pavilion, for example, peeks at
the future, envisaging how robots
will have whirred their way into
our lives by 2030. Robot City
includes a completely robotic
fish aquarium, replicating
everything from jellyfish to
lobsters in mechanical form.
Meanwhile Kidbot Village
boasts a robo-rollercoaster, and
a Ferris wheel to drink in the
sight of the whole theme park.
If that doesn’t tickle your fancy
as a day-trip the next time you hit
Seoul, pop on a train down south
to Daejeon. Like their neighbours
the Japanese, South Koreans are
passionate about baseball — but
even Japanese baseball stadiums
don’t boast robotic fans. Local
team the Hanwha Eagles recently
introduced seated bots who cheer
from the seats, controlled by
humanoid fans who can’t make it
to the match. They can remotely
control their proxies, allowing
them to cheer, chant, and do the
wave. You can even upload your
face onto the robot’s screen.
AS COTT LIVING 09