Meow that’s incredible!
Taylor Veltrop uses a Nao robot, a Kinect sensor bar, two Wii remotes, a head-mounted exhibit, a treadmill and a cool cat to constitute a video with serious viral potential.
In the video above, Veltrop’s robot walks up to a cat, grabs a brush, starts grooming then waves goodbye to its fresh feline friend as he leaves. Save for an inadvertent bonk on the noggin, the cat seems to delight in — or at least tolerate — the whole familiarity.
Digital Trends notes that the video “offers some consolation that our pets will be well taken attention of when the machine revolution arrives.”
As the site clarifies, Veltrop “sees through the robot’s eyes using the head-mounted exhibit, and moves the robot encircling using the treadmill and the motion-sensing abilities of the Kinect.”
Slash Gear contends that, while it might be dense to see “the value in using a ‘bot costing distinct thousand dollars to keep a cat’s fur silky-smooth, it’s a huge step forward in domestic telepresence.”
The video is the culmination of a year’s employment, according to Veltrop’s video description on YouTube.
The following step, Veltrop writes, is to add the ability to speak and hear through the robot.
DOWNLOAD: Virginia Tech