John Oliver Yukai engineering has successfully met its Kickstarter goal for the design of Qoobo, a robotic cushion with a tail meant to present a feeling of comfort to customers. When caressed, the plushy cushion waves gently. When rubbed, it swings playfully. The cushion also wags to say hello to its owners.
The interactive pillow was made to provide comforting communication that warms your heart how animals do. The robotic cushion makes users feel like they are interacting with live animals and provides them with a sense of relaxation, or ‘tail treatment.’ Through the Kickstarter campaign, Yukai engineering applied its experience and expertise in robotic engineering to help all people — such as people who have pet allergies or flat dwellers who can’t own pets. The engineers hope to develop the technology further, by continuing their study on the animal’s tail movements to offer even more realistic adventures.
‘We picked different materials for a variety of parts of the robot to boost the moves and also the tail’s look. We also made it durable to allow to be used in a variety of environments’, explains the design team. With over 400 backers, Qoobo attained its Kickstarter goal of more than 5 million yen or roughly 44,000 US dollars. A variety of styles and colors can be selected, which makes the pillow customizable for future ‘Qoobo’ owners. The very first batch of cushions is scheduled to be delivered by August 2018.
