Switched has a new home! Huffpost Tech.

Click here to visit the new home of Switched!

Hot on HuffPost Tech:

See More Stories
AOL Tech

Creepy Crying Baby Simulator Tries to Teach You How to Parent

by Caleb Johnson on December 20, 2009 at 04:30 PM

Here at Switched, we're all about parents being as prepared as possible before their little bundle of joy arrives. But this latest robotic baby simulator from Japan's University of Tsukuba is just too strange for us to endorse, even if it's effective. According to designboom, "Yotaro" features an interactive screen for a face, which not only displays different emotions and reacts to actions and touch, but it also cries real tears. Honestly, "Yotaro" looks like somebody stuck a lamp inside the head of a Cabbage Patch Kid. It doesn't resemble a baby at all.

In high school, many folks had to carry around a similar robot baby for home economics class. Think back, did that really teach you much about parenting? We'd venture no. Parenting is fairly instinctual, and it doesn't need to be simulated beforehand, like, say, flying a jet. And unlike flying a jet, you don't need a license to become a parent -- unfortunately.

Check out the video after the break to see this monstrosity in action. [From: designboom]

Tags: baby, japan, kids, parents, robot, simulation, top, video, weird

HuffPost AOL Social News Most Popular