To #Mefite or #Mefites or #Metafilter users, whatever gets ya attention:
I was a pretty active Metafilter user but I stopped using my old account because it's my deadname. If you're interested in who I am, though, and my current sock puppet, DM me.
This post is boring without a pic. Here I am with a robot I met this one time. https://i.imgur.com/pN5ZRPq.jpg
Still trying to get the hang of images... https://octodon.social/media/lm_qOC4gtYFkI8biGR0
@ikea_femme Is that a sealbot? I always wondered, when they move can you hear the servos moving at the joints.? So cute yet so uncanny valley.
@Faintdreams He's Paro! The inventor used he pronouns, at least. He's designed to calm patients with anxiety, pain, or dementia, as well as teach autistic children social skills. The idea is he's to offer the benefits of animal therapy without the ethical and logistical problems of pets (for example, people are allergic to dander, food and bathroom for the animal, what if a patient freaks out and hurts the animal, etc)
It's kind of Philip K Dick, but so cute you dont care.
@Faintdreams Paro really looked and sounded like a real animal to me. It probably helps they went for an animal people don't usually interact with. A dog or cat robot would probably seem more suspicious.
@ikea_femme The cat version is the stuff of knightmares!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiyT9iXcBCo&t=69s
They twitch and you can hear the servoes inside. ::shudder::
@ikea_femme I know all about Paro, apparently giving him to dementia suffers has had some surprising effects on their short term memory. I've just never spoken to someone who actually handled one. I was curious about Uncanny Valley emotions