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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."
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 20 2016, @07:15PM
The first character has its age listed as "20 years", which doesn't count as underage in most of the world. I know, reading the links is not supposed to happen, but...
(Score: 2) by takyon on Tuesday December 20 2016, @07:22PM
I'm glad you pointed that out, although it's pretty meaningless, innit? It's like making your vampire character a thousand years old but it has the appearance of a 12 year old. Fictional characters don't have actual ages, and Gateboxen have warranties!
The Gatebox will have other "personalities" (read: different skin/model, and an altered script). If the thing is hackable, all bets are off and the apparent age will probably drop too. DLC FTW?
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 3, Funny) by Azuma Hazuki on Tuesday December 20 2016, @07:56PM
If they make one that's like a talking cat or something I could see it having wide appeal. Just so long as it doesn't try to convince me I'm the reincarnation of some long-dear Lunar royalty and have to save the galaxy or something. ...and if it pops up as a tiny weaselly cat-rabbity thing with beady red eyes and a habit of talking right into my head, I'm gonna nope that thing into the trash so hard it explodes.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 1) by kurenai.tsubasa on Tuesday December 20 2016, @08:39PM
and if it pops up as a tiny weaselly cat-rabbity thing with beady red eyes and a habit of talking right into my head, I'm gonna nope that thing into the trash so hard it explodes.
…but it'll just come back and eat the mess. THE EYES! THE HORRIBLE UNBLINKING EYES! It just sits there and stares with those awful embers, never flinching, awaiting its next soul to consume in its diabolical non-Euclidean domain…!