On June 1, we began the presale of Petit Qoobo, a new baby sibling of Qoobo, the tail-wagging therapeutic robot. To commemorate this special occasion, we are providing those who reserve Petit Qoobo with a petit gift item. Petit Qoobo is expected to become available for purchase by general consumers in November 2020.
Petit Qoobo’s Presale Website
https://store-jp.qoobo.info/products/petit-qoobo
Presale is currently available for consumers in Japan only. We are currently working to bring the presale overseas.
Petit Qoobo covered by the global media
Following its unveiling at CES 2020 in Las Vegas, Petit Qoobo has been covered by more than 45 media outlets from around the globe, including The Verge, CNN, TechCrunch, Engadget, Reuters and New York Post.
Our crowdfunding campaign for Petit Qoobo was a phenomenal success, too. It surpassed our goal amount of 500,000 Japanese yen (approx. $4,600 USD) in just 43 minutes after the campaign began on March 27, 2020, eventually raising 2,671 percent of the goal, or 13.3 million Japanese yen (approx. $124K USD) by the time the campaign ended on May 10. A total of 1,330 supporters backed our product. We would like to thank them all from the bottom of our hearts for their warm support and cheering us on throughout the campaign.
We are working hard toward delivery of the product to our supporters in October, as scheduled. Petit Qoobo is expected to become available for purchase by general consumers in November 2020.
About Petit Qoobo
Petit Qoobo is a new family member of Qoobo, a tailed robotic pillow. Petit Qoobo is one size smaller than Qoobo. It wags its tail in reaction to the user’s rubbing and stroking, just as Qoobo does, but also to the surrounding natural soundscape – be it the sound of clapping, or one’s breathing. When cuddling Petit Qoobo, you can also hear its “heartbeats” (or, its vibration). We hope that this little cute one, reminiscent of skittish, sweet animals will provide you with comfort and enrich your life.
Features of Petit Qoobo
・Wags in response to your stroking
・So small you can bring it anywhere
・Wags in response to sounds and voices
・Occasionally vibrates to let you know it’s breathing
Product Overview
Price：9,900 Japanese yen（Tax included）
Size（Exterior measurements）: 210 mm (width) x 280 mm (length) x 100 mm (height)
Weight: Approximately 500 g
Power Source: Battery
Charging time：Approximately 4 hours
Battery hours：Approximately 8 ours
Accessory included in the package: Charger
Story behind Qoobo
The idea for the original Qoobo came from a Yukai staff designer who wished to have something waiting for her to comfort her at the end of a long workday while living in a pet-free apartment. Drawing inspiration from an animal’s tail, Yukai created a robot that communicates solely through tail movements – without relying on sounds or facial expressions – to comfort humans in just the way cats and dogs would. The company’s engineers studied the animal tail and created a mechanism that closely mimics its movements. The development team also paid extra attention to Qoobo’s weight and texture to recreate the feeling of cuddling a real pet. Qoobo is designed for people who cannot own pets, including pet allergy sufferers, apartment dwellers and seniors. Within a year and a half since its market release in November 2018, a combined total of more than 15,000 units of Qoobo have sold in Japan, the U.S., Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
We began developing Petit Qoobo after hearing from our fans that they wished to be able to take Qoobo with them wherever they go. In order to make it possible, we decided to create a mini-size Qoobo with brand new features that resemble the characteristics of small animals.
Petit Qoobo comes in four different soft colors: Gris (gray), Marron (brown), Noir (black) and Blanc (white).
Left: A prototype mechanism of Petit Qoobo. We diligently programmed and designed the tail mechanism through trial and error in order to achieve lifelike tail movements.
Right: At one point, we considered installing an actuator to create breathing-like vibrations.
Qoobo video：https://youtu.be/9s8B3RmGMlY
As the product remains under development, its specifications, including its functionality, may change without notice.)
Qoobo website : https://qoobo.info/