Bad Dog robot is shocking China’s youth out of their loneliness

Bad Dog is tackling loneliness among China’s young–in a way that involves small electric shocks. The foot tall white plastic robot dog is the brainchild of industrial design graduate student Zhang Jianning. He hopes it will provide good company to the growing number of people living alone in China and his project is supported by a panel of big-name companies.

The first generation of the Bad Dog (事儿狗) Project, Fuli (福狸 ‘auspicious raccoon dog’) has an impressive range of features that mix Tamagotchi digital pets and any future dystopian fantasy of your choice. It can monitor your life signs, receive deliveries while you’re out and mimic all the pros and cons of having a real dog for city living singles. TechNode met the beast at the Alibaba-backed Yunqi 2050 event for youth engagement and innovation.

The 3D-printed pseudo canine took Central Academy of Fine Arts student Zhang just 50 days to prototype and his friend a couple of days to code. With a bit of help from a federation of big businesses.

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