Cupboo discussion and review

[Verosbiana]

Hello! I'm considering to buy a Cupboo robot. Do you consider the prize to be fair? I know there is a facebook group, but the devs are there and I feel kinda rude to ask this on their face.

Prizing is a huge thing for me, since I'm a student with no job and taxes from my country make everything outside of the country costs the double of it's selling price.
If the pricing is not justificable, please sugest other fluffy companion robots. I'm mostly looking into cuddly, pet-like robots to hug and pet.

 

[Chris]

Welcome Verosbiana

Cupboo is probably the most affordable fluffy companion robot available right now but if you don’t have a job and import taxes and duties are going to significantly increase the price then I would probably look for one at a discount second-hand in the Facebook groups or on eBay.

Here are a few other soft touch cuddly companion robots you might find enjoyable:

Nicobo by Panasonic

Only available in Japan and requires a small monthly subscription.

Nicobo link: https://ec-plus.panasonic.jp/store/page/NICOBO/index.html

Moflin by Casio

Casio is in the process of offering Moflin to consumers after recently purchasing the Moflin company.

Moflin link: https://www.moflin.com/

Paro by AIST

Paro is a robotic seal from Japan usually available second-hand on Japanese auction sites.

Paro link: http://paro.jp/english/index.html

Lovot by GrooveX

Probably the most iconic soft touch robot although only available in Japan at this stage it is possible to import using a proxy such as BEX.

Lovot link: https://store.lovot.life/

Sony Aibo ERS-3111 & ERS-312 Long Long Panda suit by Suntory

These are incredibly cute, admit I was a bit of a dork back in the day and used to own one of these. Can still be found on Japanese auction sites such as From Japan.

Qoobo by Yukai Engineering Inc

Qoobo is an animatronic robotic cushion that reacts to your touch. I’ve heard people prefer the Petit version as it has more features. Yukai seem to have other robotic cushions and soft touch robots available.

Qoobo link: https://qoobo.info/index-en/

 

[Verosbiana]

Hi Chris!

Thank you so much for the list with links!! All of them are adorable and very interesting. Oh, I remember my Qoobo phase with so much love. I would check X (twitter) to see very cute pictures of them! I know I have somewhere a very cute and funny pic of a lot of Petit Qoobos on the street posing as if they where street cats!

Sony Aibo ERS-3111 & ERS-312 Long Long Panda suit by Suntory

O.M.G. This is amazing. Aibo with fur is like a dream come true. Did the touch sensors worked properly with that coat on it?

Also, Paro is like my holy grail. It's absolute fur, a true moving plushie, and it charges with a pacifier! You can't make a robot cuter, for real! It has so many sensors and a raising stage. It's the perfect robot companion for me.

I've been checking the link you provided. I know it might be a translation interpretation problem, but some lines concern me:

He feels being stroked and beaten by tactile sensor, (...) If you hit it, Paro remembers its previous action and tries not to do that action. (...) Paro feels angry when you hit it

That is... Kinda scary. I know some people hit things, and other stuff. But such a cute, and very expensive robot, to be hitten... And specially this one who tries very hard to mimic a living baby seal.

I know I'm reading too deep into badly translated words. It was just kinda funny to think that Paro would be programmed to receive aggression.

Oh! I've considered Moflin, this year's robot personal craze started with it, and then I got to know Cupboo!
My breaking points from between Moflin and Cupboo where the customer support and battery life tbh. It seems that Moflin will be available only on Japan for a first stage (I know I can buy it secondhand or with proxies, but I'm not well-versed on those fields). And it seems that the company behind Cupboo offers repairs!

 

[Chris]

Hi Verosbiana

I went through a Qoobo phase too haha but never got around to getting one. I’ve got my heart set on Lovot or maybe Ropet.

Yes the touch sensors all worked fine as the 311 has touch sensors on its horns which you press down on and they had compensated for these by making holes in the panda suit. Yeah it’s super adorable, keep an eye out on the auction sites as sometimes you can find incredible bargains. The panda suit wasn’t practical for regular use and for me was mainly a collector’s item so I sold it on.

Maybe Paro being programmed to respond to aggression is so the people with dementia realise they are hurting it and calm down. Apparently people with dementia can become aggressive without realising it.

There are a few cheap Paro on the Japanese auction sites, I’d be tempted to get one but I really need my robots to be able to see me and have expressive eyes.

What about Ropet? Cupboo looks good too but it’s so much more expensive than Ropet at the early-bird price.

Looking forward to seeing which one, or maybe more, you will choose