Meow that's amazing!
Taylor Veltrop uses a Nao robot, a Kinect sensor bar, two Wii remotes, a head-mounted display, a treadmill and a calm cat to create a video with serious viral potential.
In the video above, Veltrop's robot walks up to a cat, grabs a brush, starts grooming then waves goodbye to its new feline friend as he leaves. Save for an inadvertent bonk on the noggin, the cat seems to enjoy -- or at least tolerate -- the whole experience.
Digital Trends notes that the video "offers some consolation that our pets will be well taken care of when the machine revolution arrives."
As the site explains, Veltrop "sees through the robot’s eyes using the head-mounted display, and moves the robot around using the treadmill and the motion-sensing abilities of the Kinect."
Slash Gear contends that, while it might be hard to see "the value in using a 'bot costing several thousand dollars to keep a cat’s fur silky-smooth, it's a big step forward in domestic telepresence."
The video is the culmination of a year's work, according to Veltrop's video description on YouTube.
The next step, Veltrop writes, is to add the ability to speak and hear through the robot.