Meet the perfect pet. Qoobo is a robotic animal that you don’t have to clean up after. It has no head or legs, just a tail and a body. It’s been created by a team of Japanese scientists to be the ideal home comfort.
The creature’s creators, Yukai Engineering, have developed it to be “a therapeutic robot in the form of a cushion with a tail.” As you may imagine from that description, it is meant to be a “healing pillow,” for people who want a pet, but circumstances are preventing them from getting one.
The really appealing part of this creation is the interactive tail. It wags gently when the body is stroked, swings rapidly when the body is tickled and sometimes just waves to say “hello.” Additionally, the body moves around and reacts to people touching it, just like a real animal!
Yukai claims that Qoobo provides the same emotional benefits as real pets, like reducing anxiety and lowering blood pressure. An added bonus is that it doesn’t come with any of the downsides and high maintenance pressures that real live pets have. You don’t have to feed it, it won’t bite or scratch you and it doesn’t shed.
The Qoobo has drummed up a lot of support. It’s currently a Kickstarter campaign, with the goal of gaining $43,000. In under a month, it has already almost doubled this goal, with $70,000 being given in support by November 13. Who knows how much money it could gain by its closing date of December 3rd?!
And while it may not replace our real furry friends, it surely is a great alternative for those not yet willing to commit to a full time pet. True, something without a face can be hard to properly love, but at least you’ll never have to worry about forgetting to feed it!