Home help: a robot in pet's clothing 

Furby, beware ­ there's a new electronic pet in town. Matsushita Electric is
developing a robotic pet designed to keep the elderly company.  

Tama, which is similar to a stuffed toy cat, has a voice recognition system
that allows it to reply to specific questions and comments, as well as
pressure sensors behind its ears that let it respond to being stroked. It
also has a repertoire of about 50 phrases, ranging from "Today is karaoke
day, let's sing!" to reminders for their owners to take their medicine.  

Tama can be linked to a computer network or mobile phone service to deliver
news or messages from local government or health carers, and can be
programmed to notify a doctor if the owner fails to respond to its cheery
"good morning".  

Matsushita hopes that Tama will give elderly owners the benefits of animal
therapy as well as a medical safety net. It is expected to go on sale in
Japan in 2001.  

From:	http://www2.vnu.co.uk/computeractive/19990422/news2.htm

=======

From: Government Computer News
April 16, 1999 - page 34

Matsushita Electric recently announced a Furby-like digital pet for senior
citizens. Using the latest in voice recognition, fuzzy logic, and network
connectivity, the Tama virtual pet reminds its owner to talk to it, take
medication, and supply health information to doctors via the Internet. The
only form factor currently available is a cat.