WowWee’s charming robot dog CHiP is made for 8-year-olds and above. It is white in color with silver and blue accents and comes with a Charger, SmartBand and a SmartBall. CHiP has some personality and a bit of intelligence too. CHiP’s puppy dog-like body makes the cutest and most adorable robot pet.
CHiP can move its head sideways and its legs can move back and forth at shoulder and hip joints. The Mecanum wheels at its feet allows CHiP to move more freely. Its light design permits the robo-dog to move in any direction with high speed. CHiP is only for indoor use and thankfully, requires no set-up. Its eyes are made of up 3 LED lights curved to form a circle. It also has an app (available in both iOS and Android) that can help you in discovering all the possible voice, motion and touch commands you can give to CHiP.
Charging Base:
CHiP has its own charging base and an overnight charge would mean you can interact with it for the whole day. The robot dog can search for its charger itself in the “charge-seeker” mode. CHiP’s eyes turn red and it will stand with its back to the charging base and slowly back away and sit on it. When it’s fully charged, it rises from its base and barks.
SmartBand:
A rechargeable wristband that you can use to communicate with CHiP from afar. The center button labeled “CHiP” is used to get CHiP’s attention. The “Place” button would make CHiP follow you everywhere. “Fetch” button would make him play with his SmartBall.
SmartBall:
CHiP has a battery operated plastic ball as well. When you press “Fetch”, the robo-dog runs after the ball with adorable enthusiasm. CHiP is smart when it comes to finding and corralling the play ball. It also pushes the ball towards you in an attempt to play with you.
Speak and Hear:
CHiP is programmed to make many dog-like sounds when you pick it up or play with it. It barks and chirps in excitement. It also follows voice commands. To get CHiP’s attention you have to call “Hey CHiP.” Its eyes turn green and it follows a variety of voice commands like “Sit Down”, “Fetch”, “Do Yoga”, “Let’s Dance”, Come Here” and “Good Dog.
Sensors:
CHiP is embedded with several touch and motion sensors. The touch sensors on the face means that it chirps happily when you pet it on the face and motion sensors on the body makes the dog more aware of its surroundings when it is picked up. Another interesting thing is if you kiss CHiP, it would respond with an audio kiss. No, I did not try that so don’t judge.
Although CHiP is not a replacement for a real dog, still it is cute and quite entertaining. Playing Fetch with CHiP is fun and the way it follows you around is also charming. In our opinion, $199 for CHiP, SmartBand, SmartBall and Charger is worth it especially when you know that this one is not gonna bug you to go for a walk. You can buy a CHiP here
Did you like CHiP? Let us know what you feel about this robotic dog in comments!
