Given the specific direction taken by the robotics industry over the past few years, it's very likely that, in the very near future, robots will become the companions of choice for a very large number of people, whether we're talking about children or adults. Some companies have started early on this path, one of them being WowWee, which has just introduced Mr. Personality, a very likable character that might prove to be a very good friend for children of all ages.

The device can keep kids (and adults) entertained by telling jokes and stories, reading one's daily fortunes, answering questions regarding their future with either "yes" or "no." Additionally, Mr. Personality’s full color LCD screen displays its personality with animated and synchronized facial features.

Furthermore, by using the content playback control functions on the remote controller, one can affect the outcome of branching interactive stories and can pause, rewind and fast-forward through all on-board content. Besides the functions mentioned above, Mr. Personality can do a lot more, as it doubles as a toy race car (also controlled via the remote control), an alarm clock, a voice recorder, etc.

In their attempt to turn it into a very good companion, the engineers from WowWee have equipped the robot with several very useful sensors, namely a sonic sensor, four IR sensors for detecting and avoiding obstacles, flinch response, and Greet Mode, 1 light sensor used in order to detect and respond to changes in ambient light levels as well as a tilt sensor that allows Mr. Personality to know exactly when it's fallen down and when it's been picked up.

Furthermore, the robot has also been equipped with no less than 7 different electric motors, which help it carry out all of the functions mentioned above. Plus, it also packs a microphone, an SD memory card slot, 64 MB of internal memory, all of these components being powered by a rechargeable battery that can be juiced-up via an AC adaptor.

WowWee Mr. Personality has a price tag that matches its friendly persona, as it retails for just around 300 US dollars. For this sum, users will also get the remote controller mentioned above, plus one AC adaptor, 1 USB cable, 1 User manual and 1 "CR2032" size battery.


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