I.am branching out: Will.i.am reveals programs to generate all-singing all-dancing robotic musical animals prepared for Xmas

i.am branching out: Will.i.am reveals plans to create all-singing all-dancing robotic musical pets ready for Christmas - News - Music - The Independent Thursday 26 December 2013
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Nigella Lawson Elephant Appeal Immigration George Osborne Greece Michael Gove Arts + Ents >Music >News i.am branching out: Will.i.am reveals plans to create all-singing all-dancing robotic musical pets ready for Christmas
Daisy Wyatt Daisy Wyatt Daisy Wyatt is an online Arts & Entertainment reporter for The Independent. She likes when popular culture meets politics, and her radio is only ever tuned between Radio 4 and The HITS.
More articles from this journalist Follow Daisy Wyatt Wednesday 03 July 2013
Print Your friend's email address Your email address Note: We do not store your email address(es) but your IP address will be logged to prevent abuse of this feature. Please read our Legal Terms & Policies A A A Email He�s had his songs beamed from Mars and appeared via hologram on CNN, but now Will.i.am's latest geeky venture is the creation of robotic musical pets.
The Voice coach said he hopes the animal will be all-singing and all-dancing, and be able to respond to its owner's requests in a similar way to iPhone�s Siri software.
He said: �I want to be able to talk to it. I want to be able to tell it, �Play this song, download it.� I want to be able to tell it, �Put the next game on Tivo.� I want this thing to rule my house.� The "Scream & Shout" singer said he hopes to have the gadget ready by Christmas, and revealed he was inspired to create the pet after a trip to Harro
. �Last November I was walking through Harrods and I picked up a little stuffed animal. Right next to it was a speaker. Right next to that, there was a little MiFi wireless connector box.� �I took a day off, got a stuffed animal, ripped it apart, stuck the MiFi connector in its head, sewed it up, put the speaker in his belly, sewed it up, put a freakin� iPhone in his mouth. It�s my prototype for the next product- we�re working to have it for Christmas,� he told Wired mag
ine. The concept is Will.i.am�s latest venture into the world of innovation. The music star has previously invested in headphones Beats by Dre and foto.sosho, a vintage-looking iPhone
ase. He has also given �500,000 of his own money to the Prince�s Trust to be spent on science and engineering programmes in Brixton and east
ndon. Explaining his obsession for new technology, he said: �Creativity is relative. You encourage it, but you can�t teach it. Everybody is not going to make it. And that�s a hard rock to swallow. If you talk to a creative person, it�s life or death.� The musician is currently engaged in a copyright dispute with US artist Pharrell over the use of the phrase "i.am."