WowWee's New Robot Dog
Unveiled @ CES
Publish date: 5th of January, 2023
(Edited on 16/11/2023)
On the 4th of January, WowWee's new robot dog was demonstrated at Pepcom during CES, and will be demonstrated on the 5th of January at ShowStoppers.
The author of this article comes from a land down under, and is one day ahead in the future, hence the publish date of the article and the use of the phrase "will be". Sorry for the confusion lol. Time zones are cool.
The new robot dog revealed by WowWee is based on a unique concept that I haven't seen any other robotic pets based on; this toy may look like a bland, white figure of a robot dog when switched off, but when powered on, the colorful lights in its eyes, chest, tail, and front paws, will tell you otherwise.
Dog-E comes with a unique eye, paw, tail, and chest (or "heart") color combination, and the eyes can also come in different shapes like stars, hearts, dots, crescents (smiling with eyes shut), or semicircles. Each Dog-E comes with a personality type and bark.
Dog-E uses Persistence of Vision (POV) technology to display messages using its tail. He reacts to touch, sound, and its toy. The message on its tail can also be customized, and you can "re-mint" your dog as many times as you want, to see what color combinations, personality, and bark your dog ends up with. According to WowWee's website, the toy uses "emotes, icons, and messages" to communicate with its owner.
You can use its app to create a profile for your Dog-E, and more than one person can create a profile for their Dog-E if more than one person in the house owns one. Using the app, you can control your Dog-E's movements, and see its birthdate, personality, and color scheme. You can also play games with it, feed it, and care for it, using the app. The app can also be used to teach it its name and tricks.
More information is available at dog-e.com.
Price
The toy is currently available for pre-order on the website for $79.99 (USD). If you pre-order it by February 15, you will receive 4 bonus collars. The company will ship pre-orders by September 2023, and if you have pre-ordered one, you should be notified when the shipment of your Dog-E will be. The website says, "after September 30, 2023 orders will ship within 3-5 business days" and that international orders are not available.
According to a press release shared by PR Newswire, Dog-E will be available for $99.99 (CAD).
You can also sign up via email on the website to receive updates about Dog-E.
Today, there are a bunch of different news outlets that have made an announcement on how WowWee revealed its new robot dog. I never thought I'd see a creative concept like this being used for a robot dog again. I'm not referring to bots like Squeakee, I'm referring to robot dogs that have a robotic appearance.
I can't guarantee that I will be able to do an announcement like this again since I'll most likely be too busy to update the site when something cool like this gets announced, but hey, I'm looking forward to documenting what I can about this dog when more information comes out.
My 2ยข's Worth (Not Very Relevant)
While I have never seen another robot pet use the "no two [robot name here] are unique!" the way Dog-E uses this concept, thinking about the concept just reminds me of how the original Furby generation was advertised using the "each toy is unique" concept.
Different Furby patterns can have different eye colors (e.g. a black Furby having either brown eyes, green eyes, or blue eyes) or different voice pitches. Certain color schemes had either a mane or a tail, and each Furby came with a Furbish name. The story of Furby states "no two Furbys are the same", yet for some reason, this line was covered up with tape on the tags of some Furbys.
Thing is, despite the "no two Furbys are the same" statement, it would be possible to find a Furby with the same eye color and color scheme as another, a Furby with the same name as another, a Furby with the same voice pitch as another... A Furby with the same color scheme, eye color, and voice pitch! Not sure if you can have all three of these traits and the same name, but I guess there's a rare possibility of that happening, as funny as that sounds.
While this certainly looks like a cool toy, the only downside I see is app-reliancy. I'm not a fan of that concept; sure, Furby Boom was a fun toy and I still love the toy, but playing with Furby Boom isn't as entertaining without the app.
So, how much functionality and play can you get from Dog-E years from now when WowWee stops updating the app or takes it off the app store?
Oh, and another thing: I wonder if there will be another "MINTiD" bot from WowWee.
Links
Most information about the dog was obtained from the YouTube demo on this page, and some from the official Dog-E website.
