Nothing beats interacting with your own pet, but that doesn't stop companies from trying to recreate it in robotic form The latest is Koda's AI-powered robot dog

While it may not look much like a real dog, this robot is designed to interact socially with its owner Like a real dog, it can also sense its owner's feelings The price, though, is about $45,000

Koda can perform tasks using a "blockchain-enabled decentralized AI infrastructure" Sounds like someone tried to cram every buzzword they could think of into one sentence, which apparently means that Koda can solve complex problems and learn new skills

The decentralized nature of the blockchain should also, in theory, help keep user data private and make Koda's database harder to hack

In the presentation video, Koda promises to be able to do everything expected of a dog, including serving as a family companion, guide dog, and guard dog It also promises to function as a "powerful supercomputer capable of solving complex problems"

Given how outlandish this last claim sounds, we checked our calendars to see if April 1 had snuck up on us Then again, this thing costs $45,000, so who knows what hardware might be lurking beneath its shiny gray shell

The dog has 3D depth cameras on the front and sides of its body, and a 13MP camera that takes high-quality photos It also has a high-resolution display, an array of sensors including four "paw force sensors," a touch-sensitive head, and left and right speakers Koda is also said to be able to recognize voiceprints with 97% accuracy It also emits a voice that sounds like "Wall-E" due to its appearance

While it might be easy to dismiss Koda, especially because of its high price tag, the idea of a robotic companion is quite sound We live in an age where people do not see each other very often Having a robot companion could be a way to overcome loneliness Plus, you don't have to worry about getting peed on the couch