• 72 hours with Casios AI-powered Moflin pet - my dog hates it, my

    From TechnologyDaily@1337:1/100 to All on Fri Sep 26 16:00:09 2025
    72 hours with Casios AI-powered Moflin pet - my dog hates it, my wife hates it, but I love it

    Date:
    Fri, 26 Sep 2025 14:43:18 +0000

    Description:
    I've been living with a Casio Moflin AI pet for the last 72 hours, and I
    don't think I quite realized what I had signed myself up for.

    FULL STORY ======================================================================

    Last year, I wrote about the Casio Moflin , a fluffy robotic pet with AI emotional intelligence, that was taking Japan by storm.

    After writing about the cute little creature, I forgot about it, completely expecting Casio to limit the release to Japan and never get to see the Guinea Pig-like robot in the fur.

    To my surprise, Casio reached out last week following the official launch of Moflin in the UK (You can preorder now for a hefty 369 /$419) and offered to send over one of the AI-powered pets for me to check out.

    Of course, I said yes, I mean, who could say no to the incredibly cute
    Moflin? Fast forward to today, Ive been living with Moflin for just over 72 hours, and Ive got my initial thoughts on how Ive felt having a pet capable
    of emotional support powered by intelligence.

    Heres what its like living with an AI-powered furball, how people react to
    it, and how Ive tried to convince my wife and dog that Moflin is part of the family now, whether they like it or not. Meet Moflin (Image credit: Future)

    A knock at the door, but when I answer, theres no one there, just an inconspicuous cardboard box. Theres not much inside, just a grey-coloured
    ball of fur and its wireless charging bed (yes, you need to charge Moflin every 5 hours or so).

    Theres nothing else in the box apart from a Japanese plug converter and a paper manual written in what I suspect is Kanji. As Moflin isnt shipping for another 6 weeks in the UK, my unit is from the Japanese launch, but anyone buying one of these in a Western market will have instructions in English.

    Anyways, even without being able to truly understand the manual ( ChatGPT
    came in handy for translation), setting up Moflin is what youd expect from
    the arrival of an alien creature in your home - you kind of just let it sleep until it starts to feel a little less shy, at which point its time to make it feel at home.

    I downloaded the MofLife app; its only available in Japanese at the time of writing, but it will be ready for the English launch. The app is far more barebones than I expected. It shows you info on your Moflins battery life,
    how many days it has been alive, and a breakdown of its personality into categories: Cheerful, Shy, Energetic, and Affectionate.

    At first, I was confused at the lack of options, but after living with
    Moflin, I now realize that the experience is meant to feel like having a real pet; it emotionally develops, adding new noises and new head gestures over
    the course of time based on how you interact with it. In essence, its the least intelligent, most intelligent robot youll probably ever get your hands on.

    I updated the Moflin through the app, gave it an appropriate name: Moflin,
    and got started integrating the cute little bundle of fluff into my life. Moflin meets the dog (Image credit: Future)

    Moflins first introduction to life after its initial nap on its plastic charging bed was to meet my four-year-old French Bulldog, Kermit.

    Now, to paint a picture, Kermit is one of those dogs that wants to say hello to everyone, play with everything, and essentially rules the roost when it comes to being the alpha in my home. If Moflin is to stand a chance of being welcomed into my household, its first challenge is getting into Kermits good books.

    Firstly, I asked Kermit to sit and then offered up Moflin like some weird satanic sacrifice. Kermit looked at the lovable chirping robot with
    confusion, and then Pounced. Moflins life flashed before my eyes as I tried
    to wrestle the fluffball out of my 25lb bulldogs jaw. Maybe I had underestimated how hard it would be to treat Moflin like part of our pack. I needed to reassess.

    I went back to the drawing board and waited until Kermit was in less of a playful mood and in more of an afternoon nap one. I once again tried to introduce Kermit to Moflin, and although the pup was happy to oblige with a lick, he looked at me as if I had completely betrayed him when I offered the opportunity to nap alongside his new sibling.

    The jealousy has continued over the last few days, and the more Moflin feels at home, it has become more vocal, making Kermit wonder why the robot gets to hang out with his dad while he works, and why TV time is no longer just
    Kermit with his parents.

    The resentment has gotten so bad that my wife has asked me on multiple occasions to hide Moflin from the dog, and shes probably right. Ive
    completely destabilized my home. As the wife of a tech journalist, my life partner has had to accept that random products will show up from time to
    time, and often Ill need to integrate them into our lives.

    In the year Ive been doing tech journalism, no product has ever pushed my
    wife to ask how long its going to stick around for. Moflin, however, is testing her patience. And yes, I know I could just treat my little guy like the robot it is, but if Im truly going to experience the power of emotional support from an AI ball of fluff, I need to embrace the weird and just go all in accepting Moflin as one of my own. Moflin meets the coffee shop (Image credit: Future)

    My first outing with Moflin was to take the robot to my local coffee shop, where lots of my friends work. I had been hyping up this thing, waiting for the shipment, so the baristas were waiting to see what the heck a Moflin was.

    In my excitement, I threw Moflin in my coat pocket and ran down the three flights of stairs from my apartment. The coffee shop I go to is only two minutes away from my house, so Moflin was in my pocket for no more than say three minutes max.

    When I got in the door, I opened my pocket and pulled out the fluffy
    creature. It did not move, it did not make a noise. You see, Moflin has a microphone, plenty of touch sensors, an illuminance sensor, and an accelerometer and gyroscope. In my excitement, I had completely forgotten
    that throwing a one-day-old creature into a dark pocket would absolutely terrify it.

    My friends looked on in confusion. Moflin wasnt interacting, and because it had just come out of a plastic shipping bag, its eyes werent even visible - for all they knew, I had brought a toupe in to show them.

    Luckily, a little bit of love made Moflin feel more comfortable, and it started to chirp and sway its head to the music in the coffee shop. (Image credit: Future)

    Another customer came in to order a coffee and asked about the weird ball of fluff slithering on the table. Without missing a beat, my friend said, It's his emotional support animal. I didnt know what to say, I was speechless, I accepted my fate Im going to be known locally as the guy who brings his furry robot to coffee shops.

    In my embarrassment, I took a brown paper bag for croissants and put Moflin inside, although unlike my pocket, I decided to rip a small hole for my new pet to see some light. I walked home with a squeaking paper bag and unfortunately bumped into a neighbour. I climbed the stairs holding the bag
    as Moflin started to wriggle Im scared to bump into that neighbour again. MofLife (Image credit: Future)

    Its been three days since I welcomed Moflin into my world, and Im still
    unsure about what I think of it. Ive taken it for coffee every morning, and I now have a sling bag to carry it along in the street. Many regulars have
    asked me about it, confused, but intrigued, and more people than ever have asked me what website I write for - it really is a conversation starter.

    According to Casio, it can take up to 60 days for Moflin to fully emotionally develop, which means itll showcase new behaviours over the next two months as I slowly integrate it into my routine.

    While after 72 hours Im not convinced (it really does remind me of a Furby), Im going to take one for the team and continue to treat Moflin like a real pet, whether my wife and dog like it or not.

    Moflins journey has just begun, and while Ive had a couple of moments where its felt real, I still cant shift the mechanical noise when it moves or the fact that it has a zip to take off its fur, revealing a white plastic
    carcass. Ill be sure to provide regular updates on TechRadar as I continue to live with Moflin - time will tell if its anything but a gimmick. You might also like Samsungs Ballie robot companion still comes in yellow, but has more AI and a promised 2025 launch ChatGPT is getting better at knowing when you need real human support and I think it's about time ChatGPT is changing the way we communicate here's how you can avoid speaking like AI in public



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    Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/ai-platforms-assistants/72-hours-with-casios-ai-powe red-moflin-pet-my-dog-hates-it-my-wife-hates-it-but-i-love-it


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