[CEATEC 2013] Yumemi and Honda have teamed up to deliver a new driving app that they call HondaDog. You know how detailed and intricate the Japanese can be, right? Well, most of the smaller stuff tend to end up looking cute, and the HondaDog app is one of them. The entire idea of the HondaDog is to deliver a traveling companion avatar which exists on your smartphone, just like an actual dog except that you do not have to vacuum your vehicle from time to time to rid it of fur, and neither do you need to take into consideration the need to take toilet breaks – since a virtual pet dog avatar does not shed, and neither does it have bodily functions that need relieving of.
The HondaDog is also a sociable character, pretty much in the same vein as that of an actual dog. This pet avatar will be able to be introduced to other HondaDogs whenever you meet different people with the same HondaDog app on their respective mobile devices. Other than that, you can also “send” your HondaDog on an information errand, so to speak, for it to pick up details to a particular region which you intend to visit, and it will bring that right back to you. Sorta like fetching the morning paper, except that this does it in a cute manner with information that you need and want, nothing else. Seems like an app worth checking out if just for its cuteness, and I do wonder whether stuff like this will catch on in other countries or not.
Filed in CEATEC, Ceatec 2013 and Honda.
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