Cell Phone Robots Make Calling Out Really Bulky and Awkward, But Are Totally Adorable

Robots, man. Freaking robots. Your robotic fix today comes from PhD student Ji-Dong Yim, who has built two cell phone robots, Callo and Cally (get it? call-y? cell phone? ah, never mind). Both bots run on Nokia N82 handsets, and can move and show emotion based on user input, be it by text, voice, or even facial expression. Yim claims the aim is to explore social robotic products, in an attempt to build better relationships between robots and their owners in the future. So, like a Furby, then, JD? Because these are way cooler than a Furby. Give yourself some credit, man. Totally brought some videos for you guys to watch of Callo and Cally doing their thing. They may seem like fairly simple bots, physically – and they are – but the aforementioned ‘social robotics’ in action is pretty impressive. Check it! I wonder if the world will ever be rid of that Nokia jingle. [JD Yim, via Trendhunter]