Japan has brought us some life-changing inventions in the past. Laptops, emojis, jet skis and even karaoke.
If it wasn’t for the Japanese I would’ve never owned a Walkman, played Nintendo or watched a DVD. But their latest invention is mind-blowing for all the wrong reasons.
Yukai Engineering has introduced the Qoobo, a headless, legless, robot cat cushion. Yep, it’s as weird as it sounds. In simpler terms, a Qoobo is effectively a round cushion with a robot tail that wags whenever it’s stroked.
Why do we need this you ask? I, honestly, don’t know. According to the manufacturers, Qoobo was created through an in-house competition.
“The designer had a cat, but since the apartment she moved into didn’t allow pets, she had to leave her cat with her parents. This inspired her to come up with a lifelike pet substitute that would make her feel better whenever she thought of her cat.”
As well as being a comfort for ex-owners that have had to part with their furry friend, the cushion can supposedly act as a therapy robot for anxiety and depression instead of investing in an actual therapy cat or dog.
The video shows us that all types of people can enjoy a Qoobo. It might be cheaper and less annoying than a real cat, but it’s also weird, unnecessary and a little creepy. I’d choose dogs over cats anyway, so a robot feline was never going to sit well with me in the first place and I’d much rather enjoy a gin and tonic when I’m stressed out instead of petting a headless cat thing to calm me down.
If you’re strangely interested in bagging yourself a Qoobo, they’ll be available to order in June next year. You can pick between two colours, ‘Husky Grey’ or ‘French Brown’ and it’ll set you back around $100.
For those of you actually considering it, I’m most definitely judging you right now.
This post was originally published on the Debrief.
