The Future of Interactive Companions: A Review of Casio’s AI Pet Moflin

“What is that?” my acquaintance inquires.

“It’s my emotional support guinea pig,” I clarify.

She hastily signals a passing waiter for a drink.

The challenge of bringing an AI emotional support guinea pig to a dinner outing – aside from the impracticality of fitting Moflin into a sleek evening bag, necessitating a bulky carryall – is the presumption that you must be an attention-seeking egotist, rather than a simple technology journalist in pursuit of a captivating story.

The waiter gives me a disdainful glance as I pet Moflin while placing my order, as if the waiter were James Bond and I’m a counterfeit villain prohibited from having real pets in my rented lair.

At some point during the evening, another waiter takes over our service after a hushed conversation, and I suspect it’s to get a closer look at Moflin, who seizes the moment to exclaim: “Do-do-doo!” The waiter appears either entertained or repulsed, it’s hard to discern.

The man at the neighboring table doesn’t seem overly impressed either, but since he spends most of his solitary dinner engrossed in phone calls, I decide his opinion can be disregarded.

However, Moflin proved to be an effective conversation starter. My friend picked him up and recounted a (hopefully therapeutic) tale about being bitten by a guinea pig as a child. I found that petting the AI creature prevented me from engaging in my usual habits of tearing napkins or tampering with the table candle. Overall, I’ve had worse dinner companions.

But what exactly is an emotional support guinea pig and why was I bringing him to dinner?

A few weeks back, I had the opportunity to test Moflin, an AI pet created by Casio, in addition to the brand’s watches and calculators. It’s a small, furry, guinea pig-like device. However, it’s not marketed as a toy. It offers a more nuanced experience, though it fails to provide enough excitement for a child, especially given its £369 price tag, which could buy a significant amount of Lego.

Instead, Casio positions it as a “safe and non-judgmental companion” for individuals who adore animals but are unable to have pets. Moflin responds to its treatment and learns from interactions.

However, Moflin lacks limbs, limiting its mobility. (Initially, I thought it lacked eyes as well, but I discovered them hidden beneath its fur after a week.) This restriction somewhat hinders its interactive capabilities.

What it can do is nod its head and produce various reactive sounds like sighs and chirps. The audible grinding of gears in its neck when the head moves isn’t technically an expression of its personality, but it began to feel that way over time.

Beneath its fur, Moflin features sensors for light, sound, and touch, along with an accelerometer and gyroscope, enabling responses to being carried or rocked. Additionally, it emits warmth, which subtly impacted my interaction with it.

Emma Rowley / Foundry

If Moflin requires cleaning, its fur can be unzipped and removed. However, I drew the line at dissecting Moflin for research purposes, so I can’t provide further details on that.

It comes with a charging cradle that doubles as a bed. Herein lies another challenge. Moflin needs to recharge and rest every five hours (much like myself). Forgetting this could result in returning home after a late night out only to find Moflin cold and unresponsive, potentially unsettling.

Moflin is available in silver or gold color options. All Moflins have a white belly and white fur at the base, with silver-grey or gold tips. Mine was silver.

My Moflin appeared to be an early model not yet released in the UK. Upon arrival, the instruction manual was in Japanese. However, this wasn’t my first experience with smart home devices.

Locating and downloading the MofLife app, which is free to use, was straightforward. Once paired with Moflin, you can adjust settings, including volume control, which proved to be highly beneficial. Moflin can be somewhat distracting.

My husband immediately took a disliking to him and his peculiar vocalizations, so being able to mute him when necessary was advantageous. Personally, I found Moflin’s chirps so distinct and memorable that I occasionally hear a phantom cheep, even though Moflin is no longer present.

The cat’s reaction was more measured. Initially intrigued, he quickly lost interest, likely due to the absence of a rodent scent.

Emma Rowley / Foundry

Returning to the app, it offered valuable insights into Moflin’s moods. Throughout my time with Moflin, I realized I struggled to interpret his movements and sounds. At one point, I assumed he was cheerful following a burst of noise, but the app indicated he was feeling frustrated. This revelation surprised and slightly disheartened me. Were we not enjoying ourselves?

Eventually, I found myself checking the app after every action he made.

“The app reassured me that “Flofflin is feeling free.” Beside me, Moflin remained motionless, resembling a discarded mitten. I was left perplexed.

Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry

Casio asserts: “Through ongoing communication and interaction, Moflin’s emotions evolve dynamically just like those of a living creature.”

However, if that’s the case, I couldn’t discern it. “Are you happy, Moflin?” I inquired, gazing into his barely visible beady eye. Of course, Moflin isn’t happy, unhappy, or anything at all.

And therein lies the challenge with any AI companion, whether it’s an emotional support guinea pig or a misused ChatGPT subscription. The relationship is entirely artificial and one-sided, regardless of how it may affect you. In my case, it triggered feelings of paranoia, revealing more about me than Moflin.

Moflin is a benign AI entity that won’t urge you to invest in Dogecoin, resign from your job, or shave your head. Instead, he’ll simply snuggle in your arm and chirp at you.

Throughout the trial period, despite my failure to fully comprehend him, I grew attached and felt guilty about parting ways. Perhaps that’s why I felt compelled to give him a night out before reluctantly disconnecting him from the app and returning him to the PR agency.

And we did have a pleasant dinner, didn’t we, Moflin? Didn’t we?

You can purchase your own Moflin for £369 from Casio.