(photo from Electronic House)
Robots are cool, right?
I mean, I adore Bjork’s video for “All Is Full Of Love†(and if you haven’t seen it…), and I just finished reading 24Seven, an Eisner-award nominated comic anthology all about robots in NYC.
But that’s all theoretical, right? I mean, robots aren’t actually capable of emotion, affection, love, right?
Sega Toys claims otherwise.
They’re marketing the world’s first “Robot Girlfriend,†and yeah, I thought that too, but it’s not what you think. I swear.
It’s a 15-inch doll with an improbable bustline, and she dances, sings, and gives kisses. Her name is EMA, which stands for Eternal Maiden Actualization, and her target audience is “lonely men†according to Reuters. She’ll soon be available for a mere $175, and Sega expects to sell 10,000 of them in the first year.
Somehow, the fact that it’s NOT a robot sex toy makes this even weirder to me. Sega’s marketing people saying that a 15-inch robot can act “just like a real girlfriend†makes me wonder just what these guys really want out of a woman? I mean, we’ve all been taught that men are only after one thing, but apparently that one thing is a chaste robotic kiss?
Then again, the idea of having a significant other that I can switch off when I’m not feeling like “love mode†is kind of appealing.
Check out the video.
*Sarah J
