Robotic finger monkeys are cute and not weird at all
We're now so desperate for distraction and companionship that some of us will even wear tiny robo-monkeys on our fingers.
At least WowWee's Fingerlings Baby Monkey Toys, unveiled this week at New York Toy Fair, are adorable.
As the name implies, these palm-sized monkeys slip onto your finger like a giant, ridiculous ring. Fingerlings are motion and touch sensitive.
While most of the little battery-operated figure is fixed, the toy monkey's head turns and eyes open. That little bit of animation affords the monkey-bots an impressive amount of expression. WowWee told us that there are actually over 40-to-50 distinct animations and sound effects in Fingerlings.
With every touch, tap or stroke, the Fingerling monkey responds. It also responds to a blown kiss (really just blowing in its face) and will "fall asleep" if you lie the plastic money down in your palm and slowly pet it. To wake it up, you grab it by the tail and swing it back and forth.
Available starting in six different colors (and with six different names), Fingerlings Baby Monkey ships this August for $14.99.
Lance Ulanoff was Chief Correspondent and Editor-at-Large of Mashable. Lance acted as a senior member of the editing team, with a focus on defining internal and curated opinion content. He also helped develop staff-wide alternative story-telling skills and implementation of social media tools during live events. Prior to joining Mashable in September 2011 Lance Ulanoff served as Editor in Chief of PCMag.com and Senior Vice President of Content for the Ziff Davis, Inc. While there, he guided the brand to a 100% digital existence and oversaw content strategy for all of Ziff Davis’ Web sites. His long-running column on PCMag.com earned him a Bronze award from the ASBPE. Winmag.com, HomePC.com and PCMag.com were all been honored under Lance’s guidance.He makes frequent appearances on national, international, and local news programs including Fox News, the Today Show, Good Morning America, Kelly and Michael, CNBC, CNN and the BBC.He has also offered commentary on National Public Radio and been interviewed by newspapers and radio stations around the country. Lance has been an invited guest speaker at numerous technology conferences including SXSW, Think Mobile, CEA Line Shows, Digital Life, RoboBusiness, RoboNexus, Business Foresight and Digital Media Wire’s Games and Mobile Forum.
