Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by janrinok on Tuesday December 20 2016, @04:41PM   Printer-friendly
from the more-money-than-sense dept.

Welcome to the future:

The future is apparently here. And it's creepier than we ever imagined—even when we were playing around with tethering Teddy Ruxpin to the Internet. A Japanese company called Vinclu ("a company that makes crazy things and supports crazy people") is now taking pre-orders from Japan and the United States for a new interactive, artificial-intelligence driven home automation system. Called Gatebox, the new Internet-of-Things product takes Amazon's Alexa, Google Home, Spike Jonze's film Her , and the "holographic" anime characters of Vocaloid concerts to their unified natural conclusion.

Wait, what?

Gatebox, priced at ¥321,840 (about $2,700 US), is squarely targeted at young lonely salarymen and all brands of anime-obsessed otaku—promising the experience of "living with your favorite character." The size of a home coffee-maker, with a footprint no larger than a sheet of A4 printer paper, the device's main feature is a clear projection tube that displays a computer-animated avatar for the AI's "character." Vinclu apparently is planning multiple possible personalities for Gatebox—which, as part of the device's backstory, is a gateway to the dimension the character lives in.

A company like this could release the first strong AI product (kawaii slave?).

Beginner's definition of "waifu" for the uninitiated.

Update: Another article indicates that "[There's also] HDMI and PC inputs to allow the owner to make their own modifications and create their own characters."


Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 2) by Refugee from beyond on Tuesday December 20 2016, @08:25PM

    by Refugee from beyond (2699) on Tuesday December 20 2016, @08:25PM (#444016)

    Alternatively, you could try another AI. But then again what happens with an AI which nobody needs?

    --
    Instantly better soylentnews: replace background on article and comment titles with #973131.
    Starting Score:    1  point
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  

    Total Score:   2  
  • (Score: 2) by takyon on Tuesday December 20 2016, @08:33PM

    by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Tuesday December 20 2016, @08:33PM (#444022) Journal

    It gets sad and starts doing virtual drugs while hanging around with forgotten and neglected Tamagotchis [wikipedia.org].

    --
    [SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]