This Crazy Robot Will Encourage You With Cuteness To Write or By Throwing A Tantrum Until You Do

Having trouble writing regularly with all of the stress associated with the COVID-19 pandemic? This robot will provide anxiety control as well as encourage you to write every day.

With all the extra hours shut up in our homes because of the pandemic, it would seem we would be producing more content than ever before. But many of us are finding the anxiety and stress that are related to the risk that we or our loved ones will catch the illness, along with the general changed nature of our world, to be inhibiting our productivity.

To help it’s writers out, Medium has come up with a new piece of technology called the Quadra. The Medium Quadra is a four legged walker robot that will help decrease your anxiety and stay on task during and after social distancing.

The Quadra comes in two versions to please both cat and dog lovers alike. Each of these adorable dog and cat robots are slightly different so that your adopted friend won’t be identical to any other.

Each Quadra is fitted with a 720p camera, night vision, infrared transmitter, distance measuring sensors, and accelerometer and connects to the Internet through WiFi. Fitted with a battery created by NASA, your little pet will never run out of power.

You can use a smartphone app to stream what your robot’s camera is seeing in real time and play it back on your computer or mobile device afterwards. The real reason to be excited about this robot is its software, however.

The Quadra is powered by an advanced operating system that makes it easy to teach it to do all kinds of things. In fact, the number of things you can teach it to do is nearly limitless. Teach it to walk forward, backward or in a circle or to run, jump and perform all kinds of silly pet tricks. You can even teach it to dance to your favorite songs.

You can also use your Quadra to make sure you are writing when you want to. Simply attach your laptop or whatever mobile device you use to write with to your Quadra’s back and schedule what time you want to start writing and how much you want to complete each day.

Once the time specified arrives, your robotic friend will approach you, device in tow, and cuddle up against you to prompt you to start writing. If you begin within five minutes, it will lay down near you, getting up when you do to ensure you return to finish your work.

If you fail to begin within ten minutes, your pet will act in a characteristic manner to let you know it is displeased. If you have a dog Quadra it will look at you with big doe eyes and begin to whine. If you have a cat Quadra, it will meow once then turn it’s nose up and saunter away from you stopping and keeping it’s back to you. These behaviors will continue until you start writing.

If you fail to start writing within fifteen minutes of the scheduled time, your robot will launch into a tantrum. For the dog version this will consist of barking madly, turning wildly in a circle and jumping up and down.

Cats will meow and hiss, swiping at your a leg or arm with blunted nails aimed at startling you, not drawing blood. Your robot pets will aim to annoy you by getting your way everywhere you go, with dogs leaping frantically around you and cats winding themselves around your legs until you finally give in and get to work.

Your special pet friend will remain cuddled up next to you as you write. Every so often dog Quadras will give you a lick and cat Quadras will purr soothingly to reinforce you for your good work.

This behavior not only serves to keep you on task but to decrease any anxiety you may be feeling. They will engage in this behavior at other times as well to help keep your worry at bay.

Medium will be setting up a communal skill store, available to all “Quadra parents.” This is where every Quadra mom and dad can contribute whatever additional skills they’ve taught their fur babies. For a minimal $5 monthly fee or $50 a year, anyone can download whatever skills they want fortheir Quadras to learn.

There will also be a special online community for Quadra parents to share their joys and tribulations of “raising” and interacting with their fur babies. After the pandemic has been brought to an end and social distancing is no longer required, Medium is hoping to set up live Meetup groups for Quadra families in major cities worldwide.

According to a Medium spokesperson, there are plans to hold Quadra competitions where Quadra parents can bring their fur babies to vie for the title of most skilled, most athletic or most talented Quadra. There may even be a “Quadra Olympics,” in the future.

There will be a merchandise store that includes such items as:

• Special Pet clothes and outerwear for cold weather (while social distancing is still in place Quadra sized masks will also be available to keep your fur baby safe)
• Rhinestone halters for holding laptops and mobile devices
• Specially designed frames and photo albums for pictures of you and your Quadra
• Pet toys
• Collars for them and Jewelry for you, personalized with your Quadra’s name
• Fancy Rose, Yellow or White Gold Rhinestone Blingy, Sparkly Leash (both dog and cat Quadras are perfectly amenable to walking on a leash as long as it is not when you are scheduled to be writing)

Medium is currently in the process of taking pre-orders for Quadra’s and will begin shipping them in their own individual crates by the end of the week.

Natale C. Frank has a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology and enjoys writing articles on coping with difficult medical situations, which she has learnt a great deal about first hand as she’s been recovering from COVID-19. She is an editor for The Partnered Pen & One Table, One World and is Editor in Chief for Promposity & Mental Gecko, both of which she created. She is also the Managing Editor for Novellas and Serials at LVP Publications. Her collection of poetry, Disguised I Breathe, In Love I Hold, can be found here on Amazon.

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