A pet owner’s great fear in life is that their pet is lonely when they leave for work.
But such a circumstance is difficult to avoid, especially when you live in an otherwise empty home.
That’s why Saguenay, Quebec-based Kolony Robotics is taking a shot at solving the issue with a truly 21st century solution: robots.
MIA is a small, round-domed white robot with friendly eyes that rolls around a bit like an automated vaccum cleaner, playing with cats and dogs and dispensing treats.
Owners can simply load up the robot with treats, and the robot will dole them out according to settings that you customize in an accompanying app.
The number of times it plays with your pet by following it around can also be set through the app.
Additionally, Kolony has created an entire IoT ecosystem, including its WoofBoox — which picks up on barking and notifies you via the app, or can be set to instantly activate MIA and have it distract the dog.
There’s also MIACAM, which streams video to your smartphone when MIA is playing with your pet.
It’s currently available for pre-order on Kickstarter starting at $169 CAD with an estimated delivery date of December 2018.
Verdict: Semi-sticky (depending on pet)
I can’t speak for all pets and pet owners, but I’m sure MIA would terrorize my cat, even if it did give him treats.
He puffs up and hisses every time he sees my non-robot vacuum cleaner. A little white dome following him around would be the end for my poor neurotic cat child.
But if it didn’t scare him, I can imagine a scenario in which MIA could make for an entertaining companion.
After all, if there was a human version of MIA that delivered me cookies every so often, I would consider it a friend. After I got over it following me, I guess.
