Casio’s Moflin is a cute AI-powered furball designed to calm you

Casio just announced an AI-powered pet, but not for children. On the contrary, the company’s latest offering is an adorable ball of fluff aimed at a generation that has grown up playing with Puppy Go AI and Tamagochi.

Moflin is an AI pet loosely based on the appearances of a rabbit, guinea pig, as well as a cat. The AI-powered pet, which is a collaboration between Casio and Vanguard, was first displayed at CES 2021 and is finally up for pre-booking.

Casio Moflin: What's there to know?

Moflin is a ‘buddy’ that has a ‘heart of a living creature’. Casio also goes on to state that Moflin’s ’emotional abilities’ grow by interacting with people. Moflin runs on an AI model that learns user behaviours and environment, which ultimately helps it to reciprocate better.

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The AI-powered bot comes with a set of sounds and movements that it uses to communicate with its user. Casio mentions how just like a real pet, Moflin can use a range of emotions to convey how it feels. It responds to pets and affection, and it even displays sadness when neglected.

The company also reveals that Moflin loves to relax, go out and enjoys when interacted with positively. The idea behind the bot is to provide anxiety assistance and calm a user during their day-to-day lives, thereby doubling up as an emotional support animal.

The AI-powered pet can be operated via the MofLife smartphone app, and will immediately start displaying emotions once switched on. Casio states that the pet will also start developing emotions more ‘richer’ in a month, as it then gets used to its owner. By the end of 50 days with the owner, Moflin will display each emotion better and the user will be able to monitor its growth via the app.

Moflin will recognise and identify its user’s voice and will come with a battery life of five hours. To recharge your pet, all you have to do is place it on a charging bed that the company provides.

Casio Moflin: When will the AI-powered pet be available for purchase?

As of today, Moflin is only available for pre-order in Japan. It is priced at 59,400 yen (roughly Rs 33,300) and it is unlikely to make its way to the Indian market anytime soon.

However, with bots like Emo and Eilik gaining rapid popularity around the world, it won’t be long until India has its own version of an AI pet for eager users. That said, as cute as it is, there’s no denying that the idea of relying on AI for emotional support sounds a tad dystopian!